Destruction Among Us
by KaleidoscopeRM
Summary: Long ago, in a land called Minecraftia, there were three worlds- the Overworld, the Dimensional and the Underworld. "The Overworld was ruled by Notch, the creator of worlds. He had created the three worlds to live in peace with each other. Now, over hundreds of years later, we find our young heroes, Sky, Ant, Jerome, Mitch, Husky, and Ssundee on a journey to change everything.
1. Prologue

**Destruction Among Us-**

**Prologue**

"In a land called Minecraftia, there were three worlds- the Overworld, the Dimensional and the Underworld.

"The Overworld was ruled by Notch, the creator of worlds. He had created the three worlds to live in peace with each other. He made beings for the Overworld- like pigs, sheep, cows, and more. There was nothing vicious in this land, the worst being the annoying squids that would keep the fish away from the fishermen. Notch created people for this world and they all lived in harmony, that is, until Notch's brother became overcome with jealousy.

"Herobrine, Notch's younger brother, was angry at his brother for creating all things good- leaving nothing for him to create. Herobrine tried to create beings for the Overworld, but they were disfigured and utterly disgusting, Notch made sure they weren't in the Overworld.

"Herobrine became angry at his elder brother and ran off to the Underworld. There, he created new beings, ones that would do his bidding without question. They were hostile and did his every command- magma cubes, zombies, creepers, etc. He formed an army and made a Nether Portal so that his creations may go through it and to the Overworld. Notch couldn't stop the flow of hostile beings from the portals since they weren't created in the Overworld. He had to watch his creations suffer from the creatures of the night. And he could do nothing- Herobrine just laughed at his brother's pain.

"Notch's elder brother, Endless, was content with just being able to watch over his younger brothers. But with watching them came great responsibility and pain. He had to watch his brothers fight and hate each other. Over the course of many years, he had grieved over his brothers fighting and tried to stop it many times, but failed each time. Overcome with grief and failure, Endless transported himself to the Dimensional, hoping to be ignored by his brothers and not kept in between their fighting. In order for him to remain alone, he created enderman and the Enderdragon to protect his home and he renamed the Dimensional, the End, forever to remain that way. But creating this land came at a price, he had to create a portal to get to the End. And so he did, but it only appeared in the forgotten strongholds of the Overworld, never to be heard of and kept forgotten.

"The three brothers never heard from one another again, only when Notch and Herobrine did battle, but Endless was never seen. And by Endless's wishes, he was forgotten by his younger brothers and left to deal with his own problems and people. The three brothers now silently ruled over their own worlds and watched as their own creations handled the trials life threw at them." Faye finished reading the book loudly and as she closed it, looked around the circle of small children surrounding her. They stared at her in amazement. She chuckled and put the book on a nearby table.

"Ms. Faye, that was amazing!" a small seven year old with brown hair exclaimed. His brown eyes sparkling with enjoyment.

"Well, it should be Sky, after all, it is the Minecraftia legend," Faye smiled and ruffled the young boy's hair.

"Someday, I'll go down to the Underworld and Herobrine!" another seven year old exclaimed, his golden amulet bouncing against his chest. Sky scoffed and pushed at his brother Ant.

"Yeah right!" This made the other boy launch himself at Sky and the two were tackled to the ground, disturbing the other children around them.

"Boys! Enough, enough!" Faye exclaimed, trying to break the two apart.

"Yeah guys! You're messing up my clothes!" Jerome yelled loudly, trying to get away from his fellow seven year olds.

"Oh! A dog pile! I want in!" Jason exclaimed, jumping on top of the two fighting boys. He pulled Ssundee along with him and caused the black haired seven year old to yell;

"No, no, Jason! Stop!"

The remaining boys, Mitch and Husky, giggled at the others. Faye sighed loudly and gave up trying to stop the rough housing. After all, they were growing boys that needed to let out their energy.

When the four seven year olds stopped fighting, they had a few bruises to show off; Faye shook her head and stood up. "Well boys, I guess it's time for you all to start heading home. The sun is starting to set; you don't want to be caught in the dark by the hostiles."

"Plbt! I'm stronger than all of them!" Ant shouted, jumping up and showing off a few karate moves. Sky stood as well, pushing his brother off his feet and running from the small house.

"See you later Ms. Faye!" Sky yelled, waving while his brother chased after him.

Jason laughed and hopped up next, his brown hair bouncing slightly. "Better get home quickly! I get to watch the stars with my sister tonight!" He left Faye's home and she giggled.

Telling the boys still sitting around her, she whispered slightly, "I swear, that boy will someday live in space." The others laughed as Jerome and Mitch stood as well.

"See you tomorrow, Ms. Faye!" the two yelled.

"Lezgo biggums!" Mitch grabbed Jerome's hand and ran from the house. Husky stood up as well.

"See you later, fish!" Ssundee snickered after the mudkip, Husky yelling as he left;

"I'm an amphibian!"

"For Neptune's sake, why do I put up with your friends Ssundee?" Faye sighed, ruffling her younger brother's hair.

"Because you love me?" Ssundee adopted puppy dog eyes and Faye laughed.

"Yes, that's exactly it." Ssundee smiled toothily and hugged his elder sister by eight years. "Come on little dude, let's go to sleep."

"And may Notch stay with us." Faye nodded and carried her seven year old brother to his bed, laying him down in it.

"And may Notch stay with us."


	2. Chapter 1

**Destruction Among Us **

**Chapter One**

**~FlashBack~ **

_"Hurry Ssundee! Go!" Faye yelled to her now twelve year old brother. _

_"B-but Faye!" _

_"No Ssundee! Go now! Run while you still can! I'll hold them off!" Faye pushed him up onto a ledge; too high for anything to climb up. "You have to find Sky and the others! They should be in the safe house! I left instructions behind the bookcase, pull the book on the far right and inside a chest will be instructions on what to do in order to get away. You have to find everyone else and promise me that you'll protect one another from the hostiles." Ssundee nodded with tears in his eyes. _

_"B-but what a-about you?" Faye shook her head and looked at him with saddened eyes. _

_"I'll hold them off for as long as I can to buy you some time. Take this and make sure you do as the book says," Faye removed an iron sword from a sheath on her hip, putting next to Ssundee and gripping her diamond sword tightly. "I love you Ssundee, stay strong." she turned around and began to walk toward the attacking monsters in the long abandoned village. _

_"Faye!" _

**~End~ **

_'That was five years ago,_' Ssundee thought, looking at the worn down iron sword above his fireplace. That day five years ago was when Herobrine's creations attacked their small village. They killed almost everyone- children, parents, aunts, uncles. Only a few actually got away- those being the ones that were on vacation or the ones that had family members risk their life for them to get away.

"Are you mulling over what happened years ago again Ssundee?" Ssundee turned to the doorway where the voice emanated from.

"Of course I am Sky. It has after all been five years exactly since she risked her life to save me," Ssundee moved over to the mantel and lifted a picture from the fireplace. He ran his fingers over his sister's picture, one with her hair flowing in the wind. She was laughing and leaves were in her brown hair. Ssundee smiled slightly and Sky sighed.

"Dude, she saved your life and protected her home 'til the very end. You have to be proud of her, not sad."

"I know, but sometimes, I just wish she was here. After all, she was the one who practically raised me." Sky smiled at his friend and walked over to hug him lightly.

"Yeah, Jason is probably grieving over her now, considering she saved his life too." Ssundee nodded and recalled how Jason had told them that he was calmly eating dinner with his family when there was a knock on the door.

**~FlashBack~**

_His father had got up to answer it and a skeleton shot him, allowing zombies to enter the house. Jason and his sister had run upstairs at their mother's order but were stopped at the top of the stairs when they heard her scream. _

_Jason's sister told him to go into their parents' room and get the sword hanging above the bed. Jason followed her advice but when he was just coming back, he saw his sister being killed by a zombie. Reaching out to him, she said, "Jason! You have to find a way out! Don't let them take you like they did to us! You have to live your dream of flying through space!" Jason was frozen in shock as his sister's soul slowly disintegrated into shiny red particles that drifted off, leaving her lifeless body on the floor. The zombie moved closer to Jason but dropped when something hit the back of his head. _

_Jason was startled to see a diamond sword in the back of the zombie's head. He saw Faye run up the stairs and pull the sword from its head. "Ms. Faye!" _

"_Jason, you have to go to the safe house. The others are waiting for you. Do what your sister told you and live out your dream," she told him, helping him to his feet. "Take that sword and go out the backdoor. I will make sure nothing follows you." _

"_But what about you, Ms. Faye!?" Jason didn't want to leave the older girl alone, especially since he was just like his second sister. _

"_I'll find my own way out." And living by those words, Jason believed she would be alright and followed her to the back door. _

**~End~**

"We all believed her to be our second family, with how she told us stories all the time," Sky smiled and released the other man from his hug. "We all miss her."

Ssundee nodded and blinked back tears. "I still can't believe we couldn't find her body after all the hostiles cleared out. We found Jason's family and the others' too, just not her's." Sky nodded. When they were safe from the hostiles and tucked away in a different village, the village heads had made their way back to the abandoned village. They took the twelve year olds with them to help identify bodies. They tried to search for survivors, but found none.

"Well, it's time to begin the ceremony Ssundee. We got some new recruits to welcome," Sky grinned, watching as his friend's eyes lit up. Ssundee always did enjoy greeting the new recruits to Sky Army, even if it meant scaring them a bit.

"Sky! You butthead, the new recruits are waiting!" a voice yelled from below Ssundee's home.

"Oh my dear brother Ant, how I love you so," Sky grumbled sarcastically. He hopped up and straightened his sunglasses. "Let's go, Ssundee." Ssundee nodded and the two exited the floating house and jumped into a small water hole beneath his home.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"Welcome new recruits!" Sky's voice boomed above several thousand or so people. "I am greatly pleased to welcome you all to Sky Army, defenders of budder, destroyers of squids, and all around warriors of majesticness." The recruits below him all shouted with enthusiasm, causing Jerome to roll his eyes. "So, recruits, I welcome you to the Sky Army." A door, directly below Sky opened slowly, a golden light coming from inside it. The recruits' eyes all lightened up with wonderment and Jerome chuckled.

"You always seem to find the most illogical ways to welcome newbies." Sky only shrugged but smirked, his amulet glowing.

"It's what I do. I am after all, the King of Budder!" Sky laughed maniacally and Jerome shook his head. He often did wonder if Sky had just gone crazy from having his family killed long ago—but then again, Sky had always been insane.

"Commander Sky!" Jerome and Sky both turned to the boy that dared to interrupt Sky's laughter. "Captain Ant wishes to speak with you! There's been an incident with the mining team!" Sky's eyes widened with worry and he quickly rushed to the Communications Room—Jerome following close behind him.

"Commander!" the few people in the Communications saluted Sky as he rushed into the quite large room.

Sky immediately went over to a headset that was lying on a far table in the corner. He put the headset on his head and said into it, "Ant, Ant report in."

"_Sky? That you?"_ Even though Ant couldn't see him, Sky nodded briskly. _"Well, while we were mining down, searching for more ores for our supply, we stumbled across something strange."_

"What? What did you find?" Sky was hoping it would be something totally new and majestic—like a hidden Budder Temple, _not _what Ant was telling him.

"_We stumbled across what looks to be an abandoned portal. It was blocked off with obsidian and whatever portal it is, it hasn't been used for quite some time," _Ant finished his statement and Sky's jaw tightened. _"I want to go inside it to find out where it goes." _

"Ant! Don't you dare! If it is made from obsidian, it goes to the Underworld, Herobrine's realm. You can't go there alone, especially with not much equipment," Sky ordered his brother.

Ant scoffed into his comm. unit. "I have a diamond sword. I'll be _fine._" Ant practically ignored anything his brother was saying now. It was always his dream to go to the Underworld and defeat Herobrine. He calmly turned off his comm. unit to not hear Sky's ranting and worrying. He ordered the other miners to stay there and possibly wait until Sky showed up or someone else did. Ant gripped his diamond sword tightly and hopped into the portal.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"Dude, calm down alright, Ant can take care of himself," Jerome told the budder commander. After Sky had realized Ant was no longer listening to him, he went out in a fit of rage—got suited up and was immediately ready to go after Ant.

"I can't calm down! Ant may have always dreamt to destroy Herobrine, but he can't do it alone!" Sky shouted back at Jerome. "Gosh, can't you see that!? I swear you're a bigger idiot than Husky sometimes!"

Jerome was interrupted with what he was going to retort as Sky's words sunk in. "Y-you really think I'm an idiot for caring about my friends?" Jerome muttered softly, Sky still hearing him. Sky turned around angrily but stopped when he saw Jerome's hurt and dejected look.

"No, Fluffy—"

"No, no, you know what? I don't care anymore. Just go after Ant and you both can die. That's what you're ready for, right?" Jerome turned around and angrily walked back to the Commanding Office.

"Aw, Fluffy!" Sky sighed, but yelled, chasing his friend. He grabbed Jerome's wrist and spun the hooded man around to face him. "I'm sorry alright! It's just that, Ms. Faye— and I don't want to lose Ant too, and, I just—"

"I get it Sky. You're worried—I am too. But Ant has the ability to know when things are too tough for him. He'll be alright—after all, he wouldn't get himself killed before we visit Ms. Faye, now would he?" Jerome smiled slightly as Sky nodded softly. He hugged his friend briefly, pulling away when he heard footsteps coming quickly towards them.

"Sky, Jerome! Ant made contact again!" Ssundee was running to his friends, repeating the same phrase. Sky and Jerome looked at each other, Jerome smirking. Sky rolled his eyes and ran back to the Communications Room.

When Sky came into the room, several of the people there saluted him, most likely new recruits. One of the older communication experts gave the budder commander a black headset and Sky adjusted the microphone on it. "Ant?"

"I'm here Sky—and doing just fine might I add. The portal we found was abandoned so no hostiles were around it and it transported me to a location close to a fortress. I'm going to go investigate," Ant's voice was cracking, being filled with static.

"No! Ant, stay there! We'll send in a team after you, _do not engage,_" Sky ordered his brother.

"I'll be _fine _Sky, you aren't in charge of me."

"Ant!" Sky's voice was shut out again as Ant's communication was dropped once more. Sky clenched his fist and hit the top of the desk he was standing in front of. He turned around and angrily called, "Harry, get me the Mining Team."

Said man nodded and pressed a few buttons on the computer in front of him. A few seconds later and Sky was talking to the second in command for the Mining Team. "Commander Sky!"

"Bryce, I need you to take a few people and bring Ant back from that portal, _now." _Sky ordered.

"Yes commander!" the boy shouted his answer. Sky could tell he was saluting, even though he wasn't anywhere near him. "We will bring Captain Ant back safely." There was a bit of shuffling before someone yelled loud enough to hear through the microphone.

"No, don't place that here!" There was the sound of an explosion and Sky's eyes widened. "Bryce? What was that?" There was only groaning from the headset and Sky turned to another communication expert. "Neil, send in a Back-up Squadron to the Mining Team's location, make sure they bring blast protection armor—someone's set off TNT." Jerome and Ssundee's eyes widened considerably.

"Sky? Why would someone set off TNT in a mining tunnel, with several people inside it?" Ssundee asked cautiously, trying not to set off his hot tempered friend. Sky shook his head and shrugged. Mumbling a few words to himself, Sky turned and began to head out the Communications Room. Jerome and Ssundee looked at each other, meeting eyes, before silently following the budder commander.

"Whoever set off the TNT must not have wanted us to go after Ant," Jerome summarized, trotting after his two bigger friends.

"Then there has to be a traitor within the Sky Army," Ssundee concluded. The two looked at Sky, leader of this army and base.

"We can't worry about that now. No matter how much I want to find out who sabotaged that unused portal, we need to make sure the Mining Team is alright. By the sound of the explosion, many are very injured—we need to heal them up and then find the safest way to find the traitor," Sky said. Jerome and Ssundee nodded; after all, Sky was the authority in Sky Base. "Let's go prepare the Medical Ward."

**~Destruction Among Us~**

Ant quickly jumped behind the red netherrack. The fortress wasn't too terribly guarded, considering there were many Hell hostiles in the surrounding area. Ant panted and looked at the entrance to the fortress. There were only two zombie pigmen guarding the door, their golden swords flickering against the light from the lava pools. He clutched his diamond sword before sheathing it and preparing to climb upwards to get a better view.

As Ant climbed the mountain of netherrack, he heard squealing beginning to sound from below him. Glancing beneath him, Ant saw several pigmen beginning to climb after a few running off into the fortress. Ant cursed, climbing faster. As he neared the top, the heat of lava began to get to him. He jumped over a lava pit and looked out over the edge of the cliff he resided on. Down below, he could see several hostiles down below, guarding the place and a few returning from portals and some even leaving.

Ant glanced up just in time to see a fireball come spiraling towards him. He leaped out of the way, doing a barrel roll. He and heard a high pitched waling before another fire ball came after him. He looked upwards and saw a ghast coming towards him. His eyes widened considerably and he backed up, stopping only when he felt a heat coming from behind him. Ant looked over his shoulder and saw a Blaze glaring down at him. He looked to his right and left, zombie pigmen and magma cubes flanking him.

Ant shut his eyes tightly—he was surrounded, there was no way he could get out of this one. He looked down at his sword, contemplating on the option he could take to avoid being captured. The black haired man gripped his sword, but before he could remove it from its sheath, the pigman's arms wrapped around his, officially immobilizing them. Ant struggled against them, but a flash of fire in front of his face, stopped him. The blaze glared, turning around and leading the rest of them down a corridor underneath the fortress.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"You allowed a _human, _to enter my dimension?" Herobrine roared loudly at the few standing before him. His creations—some of them were undoubtedly retarded!

"Sir, we have no idea where the portal the human entered from is. If he did enter, it's probably a decommissioned portal," a blaze responded, bowing low to his creator.

Herobrine growled and demanded, "Leave and call for my son." The few there nodded, standing from their kneeled positions. They left the room and a few minutes later, a boy with black hair and sunglasses walked in.

"You called for me father?"

"Sparklez, I need you prepared for this evening. The prisoner we caught a couple weeks ago will be in for questioning tonight," Herobrine moved to walk behind his desk placed in the middle of the room.

"Yes father," CaptainSparklez bowed before leaving the room.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

Ant pounded on the walls—anything near him. Chains made it nearly impossible for him to move freely about the room. He had to get out of here! The pigmen had taken his possessions and he was trapped in a room with no way out but the door, which was locked. He yelled in frustration, throwing his hands in the air. He sat and leaned back against the wall, studying his surroundings.

The room he was put in was small, but big enough for at least five people to be inside it at once. To his left was a mat, _probably for sleeping on, _Ant thought, rolling his eyes. Looking to his right he saw glowstone placed along the wall and a few nether warts growing on the floor. This room probably wasn't used that much. Ant's eyes flashed to the door as it opened slowly.

"Well, I sure hope that you're decent at least," a female voice wafted through the doorway. "It is good enough since I have brought you food so you don't starve."

The door opened wider and a girl with black hair walked in the room, carrying a tray. Ant rolled his eyes saying, "So? It's not like I won't most likely die from torture."

"Well, you are one of the rudest prisoners I've ever met."

Ant looked at the girl for real, staring at her as she set the tray down on a table close to the door. He couldn't see her well enough because of the dimly lit room but when she stepped forward more and Ant's eyes widened. "_M-Ms. Faye?!"_


	3. Chapter 2

**Destruction Among Us**

**Chapter Two**

"Ms. Faye!" Ant screamed loudly, hopping to his feet- not able to run and hug the girl he thought dead for five years because of the chains.

"A-Ant?!" the black haired girl's eyes widened and she rushed to the seventeen year old's side, unlocking the chains. Ant wrapped his arms around Faye and buried his head in her shoulder. The two separated and Ant looked at Faye.

"H-how are you alive!? You were killed by the hostiles that invaded the village!" Faye smiled sadly.

"I wasn't killed by the hostiles. They saw me protecting Jason and when he escaped, they captured me and brought me here as a prisoner," she explained. Ant could tell that the twenty five year old regretted not doing everything in her power to get away. "Herobrine had the village invaded for a soldier strong enough to handle his new Army of Blazes. Apparently the hostiles that invaded thought me as someone good enough but Herobrine wasn't too pleased."

"Then, how are you alive?"

"I was-"

"Mama Faye!" a small boy that looked to be seven came running into the room, carrying quartz. "Look what I found!"

"Oh, that's wonderful Noah! Why don't you go show Captain?" The little boy nodded enthusiastically, running out the door yelling;

"Big brother!"

"Who was that?" Ant was stunned. The small boy had glowing white eyes, just like Herobrine.

"That was Herobrine's youngest son, Noah. He was why I was kept alive," Faye spoke with softness in her voice and Ant felt as though he heard a fondness for the boy. "He was born a few years before I was brought here. Herobrine decided that Captain would start his lessons and I would take care of Noah."

"Herobrine has a son!?"

"He has two actually. Captain is your age, seventeen and Noah is seven. They're actually really good if you get passed what they inherit from their father," Faye explained. Ant just stared at her.

"They are evil spawn, they can't be good!" With a sudden burst of anger, Ant stood up, growling.

Faye, trying to calm the boy, stood as well and told him, "No, they are just-"

Ant grabbed the front of Faye's shirt and yelled, "They came from the incarnation of evil! They are basically evil themselves!" The next thing Ant knew was that he was on the ground, holding his cheek.

"Don't you dare. I thought that I taught you and the others not to judge people based on what their parents do. We do not inherit our personalities from our parents, we earn them," Faye spat just as angry. "You don't know those two like I do. I was there since Noah was small and when Captain was young. I taught them what I taught you, they are not evil."

Ant... was shocked. The girl he always thought of as his sister- the one that hated Herobrine with a passion- was defending children of Herobrine. He never thought it possible. "I-I'm sorry Ms. Faye. I guess not being around you for five years made me forget your lessons."

Faye sighed and embraced the boy again. "It's alright; I shouldn't have hit you as hard as I did either. I should've thought that you forgot what I taught you." Ant hugged her back before leaning away.

"But-the others! They would want to know that you're alive!" Ant exclaimed, searching his ear to turn on his comm. unit. When he didn't find it, he realized that he didn't feel the bouncing of his amulet on his chest. "Wh-where?"

"Herobrine had your possessions taken. Anything loose had to come off. I'll go get those two items," Faye smiled and left the room. Ant leaned back against the wall quietly and closed his eyes. He smiled when the reality of Faye being alive sunk in.

"Mama Faye!" Ant's eyes flashed open and he looked to the doorway. The same boy was standing there, his face scrunched up in confusion. "Where's Mama Faye?"

'Mama Faye?' Ant thought, raising an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to answer when Faye walked in. "Noah? Watcha doing here?"

"Mama Faye!" the seven year old shouted, turning around and hugging Faye. Faye returned his hug awkwardly, the items she was carrying getting in the way.

Faye walked over to Ant when Noah released her and gave Ant his golden amulet and comm. unit. Noah eyed Ant wearily as he fit the earpiece into his ear and tested it, after turning it on. "Sky Army? Sky Army, this is Ant. Come in Sky Army." There was mild static before a loud voice came on.

"Ant! Where the hell were you! You can't just turn off communication!"

"I'm fine Sky. I just have to report in," Ant rolled his eyes.

"You are not fine! You're tracker disappeared!" Sky screeched into the piece.

"You had me tracked?" Ant raised an eyebrow at Faye. "But, never mind- and if you were that worried why didn't you come after me?"

"We couldn't! Someone broke the portal! We think that there's a spy among the recruits," Sky explained, his worry clear through his voice.

"Alright, but I have good news!"

"What good can come from being in Herobrine's domain?"

"Remember what the anniversary is for today? Ms. Faye's death right? Well, we won't have to visit her body less grave this time."

"Why? Do you not want to pay her respect like everyone else?" Sky sounded angry, Ant grinned.

"Nope, it's 'cause she's not dead."

"Ant, yes she is."

"Did we ever find her body in the wreckage? No, so we can't be sure she is dead," Ant grinned when Sky became confused at this.

"Do you have proof that she isn't dead?"

"Yes, she's standing right in front of me." the line was quiet for a few seconds before several screams of;

"WHAT!?" were heard. "What the hell are you talking about Ant!"

"Here," Ant removed the earpiece from his ear and gave it to Faye. "It's Sky I think."

"Ant what were you-"

"Sky?" Sky's voice was silenced by a girl's. "Sky, I hope I didn't kill you out of shock."

"M-Ms. F-Faye?" Sky whispered.

Faye smiled and nodded, knowing he couldn't see her. "Yes Sky. It's me."

"Faye! You're alive!" Ssundee's voice cut in, screaming. "You're alive!" he chanted, his voice getting choked up. Soon enough he was sobbing for his sister.

"Yeah, I'm alive Ssundee. I'm so sorry I couldn't get into contact with you guys, I wish I could've," Faye told her brother.

"H-how are you alive?" Jerome's voice this time. Faye explained once again how Herobrine needed someone to control his army and how she ended up staying. The three's protests were just like Ant's- that Noah was evil spawn and how she shouldn't care for him. She snapped at them as well and they shut up about it.

"You have to get back!" Faye smiled sadly at the boy's wishes.

"I've been searching for an escape for five years- I have yet to find one," Faye explained.

"But-"

"We'll try to find one as soon as possible and come back," Ant cut in, ending that conversation.

"Alright, hope to see you two soon," Sky said, Jerome and Ssundee agreeing. "See you." The communication cut off and Ant sighed.

"Ant, I hope you have a plan to find a portal that hostiles don't go through, because we can't use one of those," Faye said, eyebrow raised at Ant's promise.

Ant's eyes flickered to Noah, and he stood up only to kneel in front of the boy. Faye's eyes widened when she realized what he was doing. "Hey, little dude, do you know of a portal to the Overworld?"

"Ant, he probably-"

"Yep!" Noah smiled innocently and Ant smirked.

"It's probably used though, isn't it Noah?" Faye reasoned, trying to keep Ant away from the boy.

"Nope! Mama Faye, I use it when I want to look at the blue and white up there!" he pointed upwards and Faye realized, Noah had been going to the Overworld- a dangerous place for someone that looks like Herobrine- to look at the sky.

"Can you take us there?" Ant asked. Noah nodded and was about to leave when Faye spoke up.

"I'm not leaving here without Noah and Captain, Ant. I don't care what you say." Ant turned around and he summarized by Faye's stance that she wasn't going anywhere unless he agreed.

"But, no one up there will accept them," Ant said, unconvincingly. Faye glared at him and he shivered. "Alright, but how do you plan to get them to come with you?"

"Mama Faye, I wanna go with you!" Noah perked up and jumped towards his care taker.

"Well, there's one," Ant held up one finger. "But what about this, 'Captain'?"

"I don't think I'll be able to convince him. Herobrine is making him not trust me anymore," Faye adorned a hurt look and Ant flinched- he never did like the faces Faye made unless it was the happy one.

"I could... I could become friends with him. Convince him to come with us," Ant compromised.

Faye nodded, "I think he might trust someone else better. Herobrine is teaching him not to trust girls because they cause problems." Ant snorted slightly.

"Alright, so where is this 'Captain'?"

"Faye? Where are you? Are you talking to Noah?" a voice sounded from the hallway, entering through the doorway.

"We're in here big brother!" Noah yelled, hopping over to Faye. Ant watched a man with black hair entered through the doorway.

"What are you-" the man's eyes, slightly peeking over his sunglasses, met Ant's and he growled. "Why are you fraternizing with the prisoner!?"

"So you must be 'Captain'," Ant smirked. "I'm Ant."

**~Destruction Among Us~**

Jerome patted Ssundee's back, hoping to help his sobbing friend. Sky was behind them, trying to get his bearings straight. When he did, he began yelling orders.

"Someone send a message to TrueMU! Say in the message that Faye is alive and coming home!" People stood there until Sky yelled, "Now!" Each person was scurrying around now, trying to please their commander. "Get into contact with Husky as well!"

A boy with blonde hair came and stood in front of Sky. "But, sir, Captain Husky is on vacation right now and-"

"Sorry commander, he's new," the blonde boy was interrupted by a brown haired man, pulling him away. "I'll get in contact with Captain Husky now."

"Send for BajanCanadian as well," Sky said. Another few people nodded and began speaking into microphones. Sky turned to Jerome and Ssundee. "That should bring them here for Faye's return."

"I just... I can't believe that she's alive," Jerome stated, wonderment clear in his voice.

"To think that Herobrine kept her all these years and we never thought to check," Ssundee finally calmed down enough to say something.

"Ever since that day: we made it a law that any portal sightings were meant to be destroyed immediately, no one allowed entering them," Sky said. "We didn't want to lose anyone else." Jerome nodded.

"We have to get ready for her return then," Ssundee grinned.

"Whose return?" The three friends looked at the Communication Room's doorway and saw Mitch standing there. Mitch walked over to someone and said, "BajanCanadian reporting in." Before going to the three.

"Faye's." they all said simultaneously. Mitch's eyes widened and Jerome quickly explained what had happened while he was away, visiting a few places below the Sky Base.


	4. Chapter 3

**Destruction Among Us-**

**Chapter Three**

"My name is Ant."

CaptainSparklez watched as the black haired man reached a hand out, motioning for the Underworld Prince to take it. Sparklez narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses. This was a human, his father's prisoner. Why was Faye in here with him and Noah? "Faye, what are you and Noah doing in here?" he accused.

"Captain," he flinched at the name she had given him and she sighed. "He's just- he's an old friend of mine. When he was younger, I would take care of him at times."

"That is no excuse to be in here right now. And you obviously have been giving him help- he has two of his possessions back with him," Sparklez glared at the woman that had once been his caretaker. "My father would be very displeased."

Faye stared at the seventeen year old prince. She hated how he had become. Ever since he turned thirteen, Herobrine had begun taking him in for private visits, or "lessons." She often wondered what went on in that room- even if she did have her own ideas as to what it was. That's why she made sure Noah knew what was good and what was bad.

"I will be taking the prisoner to a different cell, one to be kept hidden from you and Noah. If you do not try to search for it, I will not tell my father," Sparklez reasoned. He stared blankly as Faye nodded, kneeling down to fix Noah's jacket. Motioning to Ant, he said, "Come with me."

The two black haired men left the room what Ant realized was a cell made to look like a comfortable room. He summarized that it was to give prisoners a false sense of security. The Underworld Prince led Ant to another cell, one farther away and certainly hidden from the other cells.

"You will hand over the things Faye had given you," Sparklez looked at Ant expectantly, holding of his hand. Ant sighed mentally, giving his golden amulet and the comm. unit to the prince. Sparklez opened the door and made Ant go inside.

"One question before you leave me here to rot?" Ant asked, his back still turned from the prince. Not bothering to wait for a proper answer, Ant continued. "What exactly happened to you to make you change the way you did? Ms. Faye told me you used to be really sweet."

Sparklez glared at Ant's back replying, "I was never once that way. Obviously that untrustworthy woman lied to you."

Ant spun around quicker than lightning. "Ms. Faye is not untrustworthy! If anything, she is the most reliable, caring, helpful, trusting person anyone could meet! And she was here for five years forced to hide all that and you dare call her untrustworthy?!" Ant was livid. Why would anyone think that about Ms. Faye- even if they were brain washed.

Sparklez sprang forward and punched Ant across the face, sending him to the ground, clutching his cheek. "You will respect me, I am the one that decides your fate mortal scum." Sparklez quickly turned away and walked from the cell, slamming the door shut.

Ant glared at the door before searching his person when he heard a strange beeping noise. When he found the item responsible for beeping, he accidental hit the blue middle part on it. Faye's voice wafted through the device.

"Ant? Can you hear me?"

"Ms. Faye, how did you-?"

"This is a Nether Star, helps me communicate with Noah when I'm busy. I hid it on you, knowing Captain would take you elsewhere," Faye explained. Ant nodded his head in understanding. "We'll be able to keep in contact, but I can only call you, and the Star will beep."

It went quiet for a few seconds and as Ant was about to say something, Faye spoke again. "You work on your part, and Noah and I will find the portal and try our best to not get caught doing anything." The star beeped again and stopped glowing. Ant quickly hid the item in an unseeable place.

"Now, how can I convince Captain to become my friend?"

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"Enter."

Sparklez calmly opened the door to his father's study. He bowed low in front of Herobrine and informed, "The recent human prisoner was moved to a different cell. Faye was fraternizing with him."

Herobrine looked up angrily, his white, pupiless eyes glowing in anger. "That worthless woman! I warned her before. She will have to face the punishment for her actions."

"Yes father." The door opened again and in popped Noah. He walked in the room and shut the door softly behind him.

"Don't hurt Mama Faye," he said, mustering his strongest glare.

"Noah-"

"No, big brother, I won't let you or daddy hurt Mama Faye." The young seven year old crossed his arms aggressively and adopted a dominating stance. Herobrine growled and rubbed his temples.

"Child-"

"No." Herobrine made an indistinguishable noise in the back of his throat and stood up.

"Noah-"

"No."

Father and son glared menacingly at each other- their white eyes glowing with anger. Herobrine opened his mouth to speak again but Noah cut him off with another strong, firm, "No."

Herobrine yelled out in frustration and flung his desk into a wall. He walked over to his smaller copy and picked him up by his neck growling in his face.

"I am your father and you will follow my orders."

"No." Herobrine screamed and threw Noah backwards.

"Fine! Have it your way! Just make sure I don't see her for the next few days."

Noah seemed to change completely after that. He dropped his stance and adopted his boyish smile once again. "Thank you~!" And he left the room.

"That child-" Herobrine growled.

"Well, your majesty, he is your son," a blaze stated, replacing the desk thrown into a wall.

"I know that!" Herobrine shot lightning at the blaze and it disappeared. "Bring in the prisoner!" He motioned to the zombie pigmen standing by the doorway. They nodded and squealed to one another, one disappearing to get their Overworld prisoner.

The pigman returned shortly with a man wearing what looked to be a pigman costume. Herobrine glared at the scum before him. "Tell us why you are here!"

The man spit blood at Herobrine's feet. "Never."

Herobrine snapped his fingers and two pigmen lifted the prisoner up by his armpits. "Sparklez."

The Underworld Prince nodded and stepped in front of the prisoner. He held out one hand and lightning sparked from his fingertips. "You can tell us the easy way, or we can force it out of you." The man's eyes widened and he shook his head furiously.

"No matter what you do I'll never tell!" Sparklez took this as his cue to grab the man's forearm and use his electricity power to shock the man. The prisoner screamed in pain and when Sparklez pulled back, he panted, sweat dripping from his face.

"I'll... never... tell," he panted, his matter hair masking his face. Sparklez looked at Herobrine and his father nodded.

The Underworld Prince calmly removed his hand from the man's forearm. The man looked relived before his eyes widened in terror as Sparklez pushed his hand into the prisoner's stomach. The man coughed up blood, eyes wide, glaring at Sparklez. The prince stared blankly at him as he began to transmit electricity through his hand and into the man's body. The man screamed loudly, his terror plainly there.

Sparklez removed his hand when he felt the man's insides turn to mush. They had been cooked exponentially and proceeded to leave the dead man's body, through the hole Sparklez had left, leaving it as an empty shell.

The pigmen allowed the body to slump to the floor- into a mess of blood and guts. Sparklez walked away from the mess and Herobrine congratulated him.

"No mercy, just like that son."

Sparklez only nodded and left the room- going to wash his hand off. When it came to torturing prisoners, it was never his favorite thing to do. But he did it for the sake of his father. After all, every child wanted their father's approval.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

Sky stood calmly, watching from his Command Tower as the rocket descended on the landing platform. He watched as a figure in a blue space suit stepped from the rocket and removed his helmet. Brown hair spilled from the helmet in a mess and the man walked to the nearest recruit and asked his something. The recruit turned and pointed at where Sky was. Jason immediately began to run towards the tower.

"Sky." Sky turned around and Jerome was standing behind him. "We got word that Husky just arrived at the shore and is on his way here." Sky nodded and informed his friend;

"Jason just arrived and the recruits are helping the Moon Brigade get settled until they head of again."

Jerome smiled and said dreamily, "Can you believe that she's actually coming back?"

Sky grinned. "I can't believe it. After five years, we finally get to see Ms. Faye again."

"You do realize we'll have to make a huge homecoming party, right?" Mitch came through the door next, throwing his arm around Jerome's shoulders.

"We have to do more than that Mitch," Ssundee was next, laughing. "After all- it has been five years."

"Sky has to explain to the recruits who Ms. Faye is," Jerome smirked. Sky groaned.

"Can't we just-"

"Nope!" Ssundee smirked as well, popping the 'p'. "They have to know the whole story. Or else they won't celebrate properly."

"Why can't someone else do it?" Sky whined. Jerome rolled his eyes, his head turning to the door that slammed open.

"What the hell did that message mean?!"

"Jason! What a surprise!" Mitch exclaimed.

"Shut up!" Jason walked inside, his brown hair rustling. "Sky, what the hell do you mean, 'Ms. Faye is alive'?!"

"I mean that Ant went and got kidnapped by Herobrine and Ms. Faye was there! She never died five years ago, she was taken to the Underworld by hostiles," Sky informed his space friend.

Jason just stared at Sky blankly, not believing his words. When he finally registered that it was definitely possible, tears formed in his eyes. He rubbed at his eyes and smiled. "She's alive."

"Well, I'd sure love to be let in to discuss this new found information," a deep voice from the doorway behind Jason was heard. Jason stepped aside and Husky came in.

"Husky!"

"So, your message?"

"It's the truth, Faye is alive and coming home," Jerome grinned.

"Oh thank goodness," Husky was relieved. "I thought it was some terrible joke."


	5. Chapter 4

**Destruction Among Us**

**Chapter Four**

"What the hell are you doing?" Ant asked.

Currently, CaptainSparklez was just staring at Ant through a small window in the door. Ant hadn't been able to tell before; trying to sleep even if he couldn't tell what was day or night in the Underworld. He had looked at the door, feeling eyes on him and was shocked to see blue eyes peeking over dark sunglasses.

"I said-"

"I know that mortal."

"And so it speaks!" Ant exclaimed, falling backwards on the mat he was trying to sleep on.

"I have a question for you," Sparklez said, still outside the door; making no move to open it. "What are these 'morals' that you humans often speak of?"

Ant looked at Sparklez and sighed. He had been asking strange questions now and again. "Morals are what I would call standards, so to speak. Like sexual purity and non-violence. Why do you ask?" Ant asked, his eyebrow raised.

Sparklez shook his head. "Something Ms. Faye taught Noah." Ant's eyes widened in realization. Maybe... just maybe, Sparklez was thinking about the things his father did- how they were bad.

"Prince Sparklez, your father requests for you," Ant heard from behind the door. A few squeals later and Sparklez turned to look through the window again.

"I will be back."

Ant stared at the spot while Sparklez left. He looked down at where the hidden Nether Star was, hoping Faye would call. It had been a few hours since her last call, and he was beginning to worry. As if by magic, the star began beeping and he quickly pushed the middle.

"Well, that was quick Ant."

"Ms. Faye! I was worried, you hadn't called in a while," Ant voiced his worry. He could practically see Faye's head shaking as she "tsked" him.

"There isn't any need to worry about me, I am twenty-five now- I think I can take care of myself."

"I know that Ms. Faye; I can't help but worry. The last time we didn't hear from you, we thought you were dead: I don't want that to happen again," Ant could feel tears prickling up to his eyes and he rubbed at them quickly before any leaked out. His voice had cracked near the end of his sentence and he hope Faye hadn't caught it.

"Oh, Ant," Ant flinched at her tone. It was soft and endearing- like what a mother would tell her son that had a nightmare. "I'm sorry I can't be in the with you but, Noah, he needs me right now. His father had called him a disgraceful, human worshipper earlier and no child wants their father to hate them. After all, Herobrine may be cruel and cold hearted, but he's still Noah's father."

"It makes me wish that Noah was born in the Overworld- you have raised him right Ms. Faye."

"'Ama Faye, who you 'alking too?"

"Don't worry about it Noah, just go back to sleep. I'll be in there to sing for you."

Ant smiled sadly as he heard a small "okay" before Faye spoke again. "I have to go now Ant, I'll call as soon as I can, alright?"

"That's fine. Tell Noah I said he's better than anyone who tells him wrong." Ant imagined Faye's bright smile and seemed to convince himself that everything would be okay with her. "Stay safe Ms. Faye."

"You too." The star stopped glowing and Ant hid it once again. He sighed, closing his eyes, leaning against the wall. He could definitely imagine Herobrine calling his son that. The Underworld Creator wasn't fond of the humans Notch created. So even if his son liked humans, he would instantly hate him. 'Poor Noah,' Ant thought, his eyes opening as he heard steps come near the door.

Ant's head turned to the door as it opened. Sparklez stepped inside and closed the door loudly behind him. Ant looked at him questioningly. Sparklez shook his head, plopped down across from Ant and rubbed his eyes in frustration.

"What happened?" Sparklez didn't answer so Ant took a different approach. "Have something to do with why your father needing you?" Sparklez flinched slightly, barely slow enough for Ant to catch. "I won't tell anyone."

Sparklez sighed and looked at Ant. "My father told me to stop treating Noah like he wasn't my younger brother. Said he was a human worshipper." Ant's eyes widened and he shook his head.

"Is that in your morals? To completely ignore your own flesh and blood because he likes one human?"

"You don't understand, mortal."

"I think I understand enough that you can't see that your father hates his own blood. That he despises his seven year old son- just because he likes the woman that raised him from close to birth," Ant stated angrily. He understood perfectly fine; Sparklez didn't.

" No!" Ant shrunk back when Sparklez quickly jumped to his feet and thunder boomed in the room. "You don't understand! How could you understand when you were accepted since you were born! I had to work for it." he paused to take a breath before glaring at Ant. "I was never taken care of by a caring family. I was raised by magma cubes!"

Ant's eyes widened. He hadn't expected that- he hadn't expected to anger the man so much that he would yell about his past. "Look-"

"No, you look," Sparklez pointed at Ant, glaring. "You were accepted by everyone that you came to love. I do the things my father asks of me so he will actually think of me as his son. I want- no I need his approval," Sparklez said. If Ant was able to see his eyes, he'd be able to tell that the Underworld Prince had tears forming in his eyes. Sparklez sat down and curled in on himself, resting his arms on his knees.

He was busy focusing not to cry when Ant got up and moved in front of him. Ant crouched to Sparklez's level and removed his sunglasses. He saw Sparklez's blue eyes, tears quickly filling them. "It's okay to cry y'know."

These words seemed to make Sparklez's inner dam break and his tears flowed over his cheeks. Ant hugged the prince and pat his back awkwardly. He wasn't the best comforter so he didn't know if he was doing it right. He only recalled his memories from when his mom comforter him when he had a nightmare or when Faye did.

A few minutes of silent crying later and Ant's shirt was soaked and Sparklez was sniffling against his chest. Ant pulled the other away from him and asked, "Feel better now?" Sparklez nodded and pulled farther away. Ant sat back and stared at the man that just cried in front of him. "Can you tell me what happens when you go visit your father?"

"The first time I went to his study, a prisoner was there. My father ordered me to torture the prisoner until he told my father what he wanted to hear," Sparklez said. "I didn't want to disappoint my father so I did. I ended up killing a human and ever since my father would congratulate me. I was happy that he approved of me- but Faye, my caretaker for one year, was disappointed when I told her." He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"When I told my father that Faye didn't approve of what I did, he told me that she was lying. He called her and all humans evil and cruel beings that won't hesitate to kill us all- me, him, his creations. He managed to convince me that females were the worst, seducing males before they stabbed them in the back. I-I believed him and followed his lead." Sparklez looked at the ground ashamed. "I stopped listening to Faye, anything she said was blocked from my mind. I didn't even bother to think that she was keeping Noah safe and caring for him."

"Ms. Faye has always cared for people more than herself," Ant said, mindlessly staring at the glowstone in the corner of the room. "I've never really seen her really mean to anyone before- the closest being her scolding us for being rude. She was the favorite helper in our old, now forgotten village."

_**~Flashback~**_

_" Ah, Ant, out again I see?" old Granny Bacon said, smiling happy. _

_"I'm on a small grocery run for Ms. Faye!" a nine year old Ant smiled brightly. Granny Bacon's smile widened and she ruffled Ant's hair. _

_"Well, what does Faye want then?" _

_"Ms. Faye is making cookies Granny Bacon!" a ten year old Sky hopped into the store, hanging off his younger brother. _

_"Oh! What kind this time?" _

_"Snicker doodles," the two boys answered at the same time. "She ran out of cinnamon though." _

_"Well, if you promise to tell her to bring me some once they're ready, she can have the cinnamon for free," Granny Bacon smiled. "I can never get enough of her snicker doodles." _

_"We promise!" _

_"Alright little ones, here you go," Granny Bacon gave the boys two spice jars of cinnamon. "Hope to see you soon." _

_The boys left the shop and walking down the road, were stopped by another lady of the village. "You boys going to see Faye?" Sky and Ant nodded. _

_"Gotta give her some cinnamon!" _

_"Well, can you tell her that I need her help canning peaches? There's a lot this season." _

_The boys nodded and ran off again, getting to their friend and his sister's house in record time. "Ms. Faye, Ms. Faye!" _

_They stopped when they saw children of all ages around the room. _

_"You boys were taking forever I thought you'd never get back!" Faye exclaimed, holding a book. "The children came by for a story- Frank told them a ghost story again. Why don't you sit down and I'll finish the princess's story?" The little children sitting around in a circle smiled wit joy as Faye began reading again. _

_**~End FlashBack~**_

"She is always so caring- to everyone and everything," Ant smiled. "Always teasing and laughing with us, treating us as her own siblings."

"She was like that when I was twelve- always worried and caring. Teaching me things that were right," Sparklez intervened, a small smile gracing his features. He shook his head slowly, "I can't believe I thought what my father said was right."

Ant looked at the broken man in front of him. He considered now, while he was calm was as good as any to tell him. "Would you like to have another chance to let Ms. Faye care for you?"

"I would trade anything to have a chance with Faye again- she was like the mother I never had."

"We found a portal that Noah frequents to look at the Overworld sky. We're going back there soon. Do you want to come with us?" Ant held his breath. If Sparklez didn't, then their plan would be screwed.

"I will," Sparklez nodded. "I've decided I want- need- Faye's approval more than my father's."

Ant shouted in joy, hopping up and getting the Nether Star Faye hid on him. He twisted the top piece and pressed the center. "Huh, Ant?"

"He agreed to come with us Ms. Faye!"

"How did you-?"

"I figured it out a while ago, talked to Noah for a few minutes, but Sparklez agreed to go with us!" Ant explained before shouting again.

"You've been communicating all this time with him Faye?"

"Ehehehehe, yeah, sort of," Faye stuttered.

"You and your loopholes," Sparklez smirked and shook his head.

"Is that my Captain?"

"Yes, I'm back Faye- I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize! You're back to being you and not what Herobrine wants you to be! I'm so proud of you!" Ant could tell Faye was smiling happily. "We'll be by to get oh guys soon."

"We're finally going home, huh?" Ant smiled.

"Yes, back to where we belong."

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"Commander Sky!"

"What is it Recruit?" Sky looked at the small boy.

"Captain Ant has made contact again! Told us portal coordinates! Captain Tyler sent a team ahead to check it out and told me to tell you a message from a woman named Faye," the boy breathed in quickly before speaking again. "She said that you better hurry and bring a pickaxe to break the portal!"

Sky nodded and motioned to Jerome. Jerome nodded and left the room with Mitch- both going to get a diamond pickaxe. Sky took a paper the boy handed him and watched as he disappeared. He looked at the coordinates and said to his friends, "125 53 and -170."

"Not too far, we should be able to travel there very easily," Husky said.

"Alright," Sky smiled brightly. "Let's meet Mitch and Jerome down there then." The others nodded and they all left the Commanding Office and down to the Transport Station.

"You have tools?" Jerome asked, tilting his head to the side.

"We'll need to armor up and get weapons, just in case we run into hostiles along the way," Ssundee informed him. Jerome nodded.

"Are we taking a squad?"

"No, Tyler already sent a squad ahead when the message first came," Sky said. "Let's hurry up." The group of seven armored up, full diamond- they would need it to defend Faye and Ant. Diamond swords and communication ear pieces. Jason pulled on his helmet and said;

"I'll fly in from the sky and make sure hostiles stay away from the portal." Sky nodded.

"We better hurry- they picked a bad time to come, the day is becoming night," Mitch said. The others nodded and they all began running out the gates of the Sky Base.

The seven, six on the ground and one in the air, ran- following Sky as he lead them while looking down at the Mini Map in his hands. "Almost there!" Sky shouted behind him and the others yelled happily.

As they began climbing over a hill, they saw lightning coming from behind it. Ssundee's eyes widened in fear. "Lightning is Herobrine's power! Faye!" He sped up, not going any faster as it started to rain, making the ground soggy. They slipped a few times before finally, Ssundee reached the top. He looked down at the ground, a glowing purple coming from the portal and blue sparks of lightning coming from beside it. "Faye!"

There were four people that looked up at him, one of them holding out his hand, blue lightning charging in his palm. The tallest one put their arm on the boy's and said something to him. He lowered his arm and looked around them, looking for something.

The others got on top the hill and saw as well, but Ssundee paid no attention to them. He shouted once again and slid down the other side of the hill, running to the tallest. On closer inspection, Ssundee saw that it was Faye and ran into her arms, tears pooling in his eyes. "You're here, you're alive."

Faye smiled down at her younger brother. "I'm alive, I love you little bro."

He pulled away for a short second, looking at her, before tucking his head in the crook of her neck. He couldn't say anything and was happily content just staying in her arms. He heard a loud shout from Sky and a tumble to the ground. Apparently, Sky was really worried about Ant. Ssundee was disrupted from hugging his sister when he felt a strange pressure on his legs. He pulled away and looked down. A small boy with white eyes was staring back at him and he yelped, jumping backwards.

The boy glared at him and hugged Faye around her middle. "My Mama Faye."

"Faye, who's that?"

"This is who I told you about, Noah and his brother CaptainSparklez," Faye explained. Ssundee nodded but glanced away. He didn't think that she would actually bring them back with her. "I know that you guys wouldn't be expecting them, but I couldn't leave them with Herobrine- they don't belong there." Looking down at Noah she continued, "Noah was outcast by his father for loving a mortal, he's only seven."

"It's alright Ms. Faye, as long as we get you back," Jerome said, smiling widely. He walked forward for a second and bent down to Noah's level. "Mind if we greet Ms. Faye?" Noah nodded and hid his face in Faye's stomach. Faye rolled her eyes and pulled Jerome up to give her a hug. The others hugged her too and Jason coming to the ground to see her as well. Faye introduced Sparklez and Noah formally to everyone and they accepted that without them, Faye wouldn't be in front of them now. Mitch and Jerome quickly used their pickaxes to destroy the portal so no one could enter or leave it.

The group all turned to head back to the Sky Base but heard a noise- noises. Bones crackling, groaning, hissing, the hostiles were coming for them.

Looking out at their surroundings Sky concluded, "We should start heading back, it isn't safe anymore." The group- now of eleven- turned from the broken portal. The hurriedly ran back to the Sky Base, Faye carrying Noah on her back for them to move quicker.

When they entered the Sky Base recruits greeted them and Sky turned to Sparklez and Noah. "You two need to hide your eyes until we inform everyone of the guests we have."

"My eyes aren't white like Noah's," Sparklez said, removing his sunglasses to reveal blue eyes.

"Noah could pretend to be asleep on Faye's back?" Jason offered.

Mitch snorted and Husky told them, "He's already asleep."

"Well, since that's settled, let's go and show you to your quarters," Sky smiled, walking forward and nodding in recognition at the recruits saluting him.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"What do you mean you can't find him!?" Herobrine roared at the quivering pigmen.

"S-sir, we mean that the Prince is nowhere in the fortress," a pigman said, bowing any lower if it was possible.

"Sir, the prisoner and woman are gone as well as the youngest," a blaze opened the door before shutting it quickly by a raging fireball shot at him.

"That worthless, insolent woman! She did this! She turned my own kin against me! Filled their heads with lies and false hopes. Humans are all imbeciles," Herobrine growled. The pigmen flinched each time he yelled and hoped this didn't mean their death. "How did they get out?"

"We found an abandoned, non-used portal but when we tried to go through it, it sent us nowhere," the bowing pigman said.

"They are of no use to me any longer. They were never here and didn't exist."

"But, sir, they may have the power to stop your reign," a gullible pigman pointed out. Herobrine shot a lightning bolt at it, disintegrating it. He glared at the spot before he realized;

"I trained Sparklez to use his powers and Noah is basically my copy," he thought aloud. "I suppose they will just have to be eliminated."

The guards and other creatures around nodded fervently, hoping their fate would end differently.

"Looks like we'll had to pay a visit to my elder brother's land," Herobrine smirked, his eyes flashing angrily. His creatures let out a cry- deafening to mortal ears- for their creator and ruler.


	6. Chapter 5

**Destruction Among Us**

**Chapter Five**

"That child has Herobrine eyes!"

"Kill him! He's evil spawn!"

"Why would you let an outsider bring him here Commander!?"

The shouts of Sky Army recruits could be heard for miles. Sky had explained who Faye was and the two people that came with her- they didn't take it very well.

"Sky Army- I know that you all have lost people you know and love to Herobrine, but-"

"But nothing! Their Herobrine's children! They must be just like him!" Sky was interrupted by an unknown voice.

"Enough!" Ant yelled. "So what if they are Herobrine's children? Do what their parents do make the child evil? No! It's their own actions! I know for a fact that if these two didn't exist, Faye wouldn't be here right now. I know that if they didn't exist I wouldn't be here right now."

"They still knew that what their father was doing was wrong!"

"No they didn't!" Ant yelled back. "Noah is seven years old with no way of knowing what is right or wrong! Sparklez wasn't taught what was good when he was younger- only evil."

"They could've left if they chose to!" More voices yelled, some shouting agreements.

Faye put a hand on Ant's shoulder, drawing him back and took a deep breath. "You all have it wrong." Faye smiled sadly at the entire Sky Army. "They weren't taught good or bad. They barely knew about the Overworld." she paused but before someone could yell a retort she began again. "Noah was disowned for loving a mortal; I am that mortal. Herobrine is a cruel being that no doubt doesn't deserve the power he has. I know some of you lost people you loved- I lost my own village and was forced down into the Underworld. I was kept from the people I loved making them think I was dead for five years."

Most were quiet; not believing a story that seemed so made up. A few were very persistent and yelled, "So!?"

"If it wasn't for Ms. Faye then we wouldn't be who we are today. She told us what was right and wrong and basically raised us," Jerome answered, a bright smile on his face. "She is Ssundee's elder sister after all and we were over there all the time in our childhood."

"She's our family and we finally got her back after several years," Mitch included. "She told us stories and helped us when we were troubled and our parents were busy."

"She saved me from the hostiles that invaded our village years ago," Jason said. His voice cracked but his face gave nothing away. "She risked her life to protect me and I can't help but feel that it was my fault she got captured."

"We're glad she's back home where she belongs and Noah is the one that kept her alive. And besides- Noah is a small seven year old, you can't really be too cruel to him," Ssundee said, grinning widely. As if on cue, Noah came running through the crowd and up the stage yelling, "Mama Faye, Mama Faye!" Most recruits pulled away in disgust.

"Mama Faye! I saw a snow golem! It through a snow ball at me!" he giggled and hugged Faye's middle. The girls in the army "Awed," at Noah's cuteness and some boys even chuckled.

"Noah, I thought I told you to tell Faye later?" Sparklez came up the stage next, trying to take his brother with him.

"No! I dun' wanna!" Noah hugged Faye tighter and some of the people watching cracked a smile. Only a few were still frowning, but their glares were gone.

"Noah," Sparklez warned.

"No!"

"I-"

"No!"

"Noah, come-"

"No!"

"Noah!"

"Never!"

The recruits laughed, the frowning ones adorning a small smile. "Does everyone agree with us now?" Sky asked. The army answered with a shout of yes and then they dispersed.

"Why do I feel like that was planned?" Faye laughed.

"Because you could always read us so well!" Ssundee and Husky laughed together.

"We figured that they couldn't resist when Noah and Sparklez acted like a true family," Husky explained.

"You guys are so smart," Faye shook her head, still smiling.

"Just because you taught us!" they exclaimed, high-fives being passed around.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"Noah, oh Noah, oh No-ah!"

Noah covered his mouth to keep his giggles from escaping. After the announcements and everything, Noah decided to run from everyone yelling, "Hide 'n' seek!" This caused the more mature people to groan and leave Jerome, Jason, Ssundee and Sky exclaiming in joy. Jason, Ssundee and Sky quickly ran off and hid, leaving Jerome on the stage to count and find them.

"Noah! I know you're in here! Come out!" Jerome yelled in frustration. He tried every trick in the book to get the seven year old to reveal himself, even offering buckets of candy, but nothing was working. "I'll, um, I'll give you, um, chocolate!?" He heard nothing again and sighed loudly. He turned to leave but stopped when he heard a muffled snort. "Ah ha!"

Jerome jumped over and looked behind a box, grumbling when he didn't find anyone. He heard scuffling nearby and quietly followed it. When he looked over a box, he saw Noah there, trying really hard to hold in his giggles. He raised an eyebrow and reached over to grab the seven year old. "I gotcha!"

Noah squealed loudly but got out of Jerome's hold and ran for the door screaming, "No!" Jerome quickly chased after him.

"Get back here little dood!"

"You have to catch me!" the seven year old squealed, giggling madly while he ran through the Sky Base. Noah skillfully dodged the people and Jerome made attempts to, but failed miserably, ending up knocking over someone carrying watermelons.

"What the balls dude!"

"Agh! Bashur no!" Jerome wailed as the melon man began chasing him.

"Those were my babies man!" Jerome frantically ran from the crazy melon, leaping over a fence, losing Bashur when he tried as well. Bashur face planted in the ground and yelled out. Jerome laughed but continued running from him.

Jerome ran over a mound of dirt before coming to a stop when he saw his friends- Sky, Jason, and Ssundee standing with the others and Noah. Noah looked up and saw him, giggling madly.

"Fluffy make mess!" Noah pointed at Jerome and tugged on Faye's shirt.

Jerome groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Sky, did you tell him to call me that?" Sky just smirked evilly and turned back to the current conversation.

"Do you think Herobrine would come after you guys?" it was Husky that asked, his voice questioning, hoping that what he thought wouldn't come true.

"I don't know," Faye shook her head, frowning lightly.

"I wouldn't think he would, since he would despise his children that they chose a mortal over him, he did disown Noah after all," Ant offered. He didn't want to have Herobrine come to the Overworld for Sparklez and Noah.

"He wouldn't come after us if he no longer wanted us," Sparklez informed the group.

"I don't worry that he might want you back," Husky shook his head. "I worry that he would want to come and kill you to assure him that he is the only one with inhuman powers." The other's eyes widened in realization.

Mitch continued Husky's statement. "He might kill Ms. Faye as well, considering she was the reason they turned on him."

"I won't allow Faye to die," Ssundee said stubbornly. He wasn't going to allow his sister to disappear after just barely getting her back. "If he does show up, she'll stay here, safe."

Faye shook her head. "I won't just sit around and let you guys do everything. I'm your elder, it's my job to protect you- not the other way around."

"But Ms. Faye-"

"No buts Mitch. I will not sit around here when a fight comes. And if you lock me up to keep me here, I'll find a way out," Faye concluded, glaring hard at the boys before her. "You fight, I fight; that simple."

"I guess we can't change your mind huh?" Faye shook her head and Sky sighed. "You always were extremely stubborn."

Faye grinned as the others nodded. "Where do you think Ssundee gets it?" Turning to Jerome, she finally decided to address the issue that Noah pointed out. "What mess did you make Jerome?"

Jerome laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you see-"

He didn't get to finish because an angry melon man yelled out, "I demand my melons!"

Sky raised an eyebrow at his hooded friend and answered, "What happened now Bashur?"

"Jerome ran into me and spilled my babies everywhere!" Sky almost laughed aloud before he realized that Bashur's 'babies' were watermelons.

"Well, I'll have Jerome replace the watermelons?" Unsure if that was what Bashur wanted, Sky asked.

"Good." Bashur firmly nodded once and turned to walk away.

"I will never understand him," Ant shook his head.

"I don't think anyone will," Mitch agreed.

"Mama Faye, is the melon's babies okay?" Noah asked, tilting his head to the side. Faye burst out laughing as well as the others- Noah confused and wondering the truth behind his innocent question.


	7. Chapter 6

**Destruction Among Us**

**Chapter Six**

"Sir, we've successfully gotten a portal close to where the traitors were released," a magma cube informed his leader.

"Good," Herobrine smirked, his eyes glowing menacingly. After many tries, taking several days and thousands of new portals being built, they finally succeeded.

"It is only off 100 or so yards but spies have confirmed that the targets are in a place called the 'Sky Base'," a pigman confirmed the position and told Herobrine the spies' findings.

"That base of puny humans that insist on creating an army to destroy my power?" The pigman nodded and zoomed in on a picture of the Sky Base. "Those mortals obsessed with butter?"

"Yes sir."

"I'll have fun destroying their spirits."

The blaze watched as his creator grinned maniacally. The blaze wasn't anyone special but, despite Herobrine being his creator, the blaze hated him with a passion. He hated how Herobrine ordered impossible things from them and sent them into a zone that was sure a death wish. The blazes were his skilled army but this blaze, wished he was created by Notch instead.

Not many would dare speak Herobrine's elder brother's name- even fewer actually knew the story of how Herobrine came to be so cruel. Some even thought that they were only created out of anger and animosity, that no real thought went into their creation. Hence the zombie pigmen looking the way they do and ghasts forced to be always flying and slimes forced to remain underground instead on the landscape. The blaze knew that he and all other blazes were created to further torment Notch's creations and he hated it. He was relieved that the two children of his creator escaped- they didn't deserve to be forced to be evil and follow their father's every command.

The blaze grunted softly before turning to leave the room. He couldn't move any longer when he felt a pull on his muscles and joints. He was forcefully turned around and Herobrine's furious face was before him.

"You forget that I am your creator and can read your mind at will." The blaze's eyes widened and he stared at the angry white eyes. "You will regret ever thinking that in my presence." Herobrine whispered in the blaze's face. The Underworld Creator used his powers to slowly disintegrate the blaze into dust- causing as much pain as possible. All that was left was a pile of powder on the floor. "Get rid of this mess." A pigman hurried to do as his creator demanded.

"Set up a squadron to go through the portal; only the best can go with me on this journey. I care not for the others," Herobrine told the magma cube.

"Yes sir," the magma cube nodded and Herobrine left the room.

"Ultimately, no one can escape from me." An evil grin spread across Herobrine's face and he formed a ball of white energy in his palm.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"Sir, another portal has risen from out of nowhere!"

"Find out why!" Sky shouted an order. He was in the Portal Destruction Room and portals were popping up everywhere. They had been all week and he hasn't been able to relax like everyone else. He and the Portal Squad were frantically trying to find the source of the portals, but they would disappear before they could reach them. He barely got to spend time with his old caretaker; even with the amount of time she's been there.

Faye had been back for three weeks and everyone was getting used to having her around. Sure enough, just like five years ago in their village, everyone loved Faye. She offered her help and read stories to the children. She volunteered to help out in the medical wing and was in charge of maintaining the food stocks and other things pertaining to that.

Eventually everyone got used to Noah and Sparklez presence and was more comfortable to talk to them. When Noah often got into trouble, he would adopt puppy eyes and no one had the heart to tell Faye what he did. Sparklez helped out with training the new recruits for the army. He helped Ant fit everyone for armor and find out if they were better with a sword, axe, or bow. Everyone was getting more comfortable in the Sky Base and he hoped it would stay that way for a long while.

"Sky?"

Sky turned his head to the doorway, rubbing his head. "Yeah, Ms. Faye?"

"I have something important to talk to you about," Faye said, stepping into the room.

"I'm kind of busy though."

"It has to do with the portals popping up everywhere." Sky froze and stared at Faye.

"How did you know about the portals?"

"I have ways of figuring out why my brother's friends are stressed," Faye shrugged lightly.

"Alright." Turning to one of the recruits on the Portal Squad he said, "I'll be right back." The recruits nodded and turned back to the screen in front of her.

Sky and Faye left the room and walked down the hall, entering an empty conference room. "What did you want to tell me?"

"Sky, I know you know why the portals are showing up all over," Faye began. "Herobrine is looking for a portal closest to the one we came out of. He's searching for Captain and Noah."

Sky shook his head disobediently; refusing to believe what he hoped wasn't true. "No, that's not-"

"You know it is Sky!" Faye spun around and faced the boy. "He's coming with an army of his best to get Captain and Noah. He's- he's going to kill them because he knows they have the power to destroy him." Sky shook his head stubbornly. "Sky! You know that's what's happening but refuse to believe it. I don't want it to be true either, but it's irrelevant to think otherwise."

"Why don't we just move you guys somewhere else; somewhere far away?" Sky offered but Faye shook her head.

"I won't allow you all to try and fight him off. You wouldn't stand a chance."

"We can try, can't we?" Sky asked angrily. "We just got you back! We don't want to lose you again!"

"I couldn't live with myself if I knew you were going into battle at my expense without me there!" Faye retorted.

"Then what-"

Faye interrupted him. "I need you guys to live so that you can defeat Herobrine! I can't beat him; it's up to you guys. I'll keep him distracted when he arrives."

"But!"

"No Sky! It's useless to argue with me. You have to lead everyone on and I'll do my best to stop him. Tell no one of this agreement and you have to live by it," Faye pointed at him. "Promise me."

"I-I-I," Sky stuttered, looking at the ground. He refused to allow tears to form in his eyes. His old caretaker had basically signed her own death contract. "I promise," he whispered, feeling Faye's arms wrap around him. He buried his face in Faye's neck and returned he hug.

"You have to keep everyone in the dark. When Herobrine shows up and we all go to fight him, you will force everyone to stay back while I go ahead. I will hold him off for you guys to make it back to our old village and find the library." Sky looked up at Faye curiously. She continued before he could ask his question, "In the library, in the very back shelf, on the far right, a book is there. In that book explains many things you guys don't know about me. There are instructions in the book and I want you to follow them exactly."

Sky nodded and removed himself from the comforting embrace. "I promise to follow your orders."

Faye ruffled his hair and smiled sadly at him. "Please do." Faye made her way to the door and opened it, "You've helped me in many ways Sky. And when you get to where the book tells you, say 'Hi' to him for me." She left Sky wondering who 'Him' was.

Sky removed his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "Ssundee is going to kill me; they all are."

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"We have to go collect a few traitorous beings from the Overworld. You will take anyone's life that gets in the way. Collect the traitors at all costs." Several war cries were heard from the large group in front of a small portal. "Bring me the traitors and I will take care of them." More shouts of agreement before an unknown being yelled.

"Long live Herobrine!" This continued on for several more minutes as Herobrine's smirk grew wider.

"Let's go cause some mayhem, eh?" Herobrine turned to the portal behind him and stepped through it. Several of his creations following in after him.

They were teleported to a grassy field surrounded by a few hills. A small group of people were in the surrounding area, staring wide-eyed and shocked at the beings spilling from the portal. Herobrine grinned evilly and said, "Destroy them all."


	8. Chapter 7

**Destruction Among Us **

**Chapter Seven**

"Send out the Rescue team, we have to get the Portal Squad back here. Warn the Budder Brigade and have them move in to keep things busy," Sky ordered a longtime recruit. He knew it was coming, but he didn't think it would be so soon. "Have the Medical Team on standby."

"Sky!" Said commander turned to the door to see Ssundee run inside the commanding office. "What's going on? All of a sudden people started to run and begin armoring up. Women and children started moving down to the shelters for emergencies."

"Ssundee," Faye came through the door next. "We all knew it was only a matter of time before Herobrine made his move. He's coming for Sparklez and Noah."

"Then we have to get you three to safety!" Ssundee exclaimed, moving to grab his sister's hand and drag her to the safety shelters underground. Faye shook off his hand and grabbed his shoulders.

"I won't allow any of you to fight without me."

"But I don't want to lose you again!" Ssundee cried, grabbing Faye's hands on his shoulders. Tears pooled in his eyes and he stared at Faye. "I can't—"

"Ssundee," Faye said, bringing her brother in for a hug. "I know, but I don't want to stay here and find out that one of you got hurt or worse—died."

"But, you have to take care of Noah!" Ssundee exclaimed, pulling away from the hug.

"I go too!" Noah jumped toward the two, not really getting what they were arguing about. Faye looked at him sadly, moving to bend down but stopped when Sparklez hand landed on her shoulder.

"I'll take care of him Faye—you do what you have to." Sparklez bent down and picked up his younger brother and carried him from the Commanding Office. Faye had explained to him earlier what she was planning to do. It had taken a lot of convincing for him to agree with it; he still wasn't okay with it. Faye watched the two brothers leave before turning back to Sky and Ssundee.

"If you guys are going down to the battle, so am I."

Faye crossed her arms defiantly and her eyes narrowed. She knew Sky would agree but Ssundee would be a difficulty.

"I-" Ssundee sighed, finally excepting the situation. "Alright, but, I'm staying by your side, no matter what." Faye nodded, agreeing for the moment.

"Alright, let's get suited up," Sky said, leading them out the door. The three began the walk to the Armory.

They passed by several men, women, and children running in several directions, a woman even asked Sky to protect her eldest son and bring him back to her. Sky just nodded forcefully, not fully promising—he didn't know who would survive and who wouldn't. He didn't want to make any promises that might not be true.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"Commander, we need back-up!" Mitch looked to his friend—they had been getting messages like that ever since they left the Sky Base. There must be something worse than the normal hostiles that Herobrine sent out. He adjusted his helmet and clenched his bow. They would all head into battle and help fight, try to keep Herobrine away from the Sky Base and force him to return to the Underworld—or at least, that was the plan. There was no telling what could go wrong.

"We're on our way recruit, keep on target and try to hold out," Sky ordered, beginning to go faster. They had to get out of their vehicle awhile back because of the hills around the area. As they began to get closer to the battleground, they heard the painful shouts and cruel shrieks of ghasts. Mitch's eyes widened and when they got to the top of the hill, they saw the damage and destruction of Herobrine.

Herobrine personally was up in the air, looking down on the fighting below him, smirking evilly. On the ground were several bodies of fallen troops as well as fallen enemies. Sky's eyes hardened as he looked at the destruction. No one should have had to face something like this. He glanced behind him, meeting Faye's eyes. She stared at him before smiling sadly, nodding slightly. He turned back around and forced tears to stay back. He raised his sword high in the air and shouted, "For the Overworld!" The group released a battle cry and ran into battle.

The Scouts engaged in battle while the Archers took refuge among the trees and shot at the hostiles. Sky and his friends stayed back shortly before Jerome and Mitch went off to demolish the blazes that were dominating. Jason put on his helmet and flew up to help with the ghasts while Husky and Ssundee handled the magma cubes and pigmen. Ant, Sky and Faye stood at the top of the hill, watching.

"Sky, you need to get Herobrine to the ground," Faye said. He nodded, staring at the white-eyed menace floating above the wreckage, watching it all.

"Ready to fight, brother?" Sky asked Ant. Ant grinned mercilessly and nodded;

"We'll show them not to mess with the Sky Army."

Both Sky and Ant charged into battle, watching each other's backs and taking down enemies. They slowly made their way into the middle of the battlefield.

A sound of a jet flew over them and caused everyone to look up, even the hostiles. Above them was a group of fifteen or so people dressed in spacesuits. They saluted to Jason before beginning to battle as well.

The Sky Army was forcing their enemies back but also losing many in the battle. The ground was dyed a permanent red and littered with bodies of the fallen. It broke Faye's heart to watch things change from beautiful scenery to a black death. She had hoped things wouldn't get this bad, if only _he _was here to help. She clenched her sword and motioned to Jason. He discarded his battle and moved to Faye.

"What is it Ms. Faye?"

"Jason, I need you to fly me up to Herobrine." Jason's eyes widened behind his helmet but before he could ask why she continued. "Please Jason." Jason nodded and picked the brown haired girl up by the arms.

He flew Faye a few feet from where Herobrine floated. "Herobrine!"

The white eyed man turned to glare at the person that called his name. His eyes narrowed when he saw Faye. "So you decided to show yourself insolent woman?"

"Why don't you fight yourself!? Why risk so many people's lives for your own gain?!" Faye screamed at him.

Herobrine only laughed maniacally. "You forget mortal that I am all powerful and don't care for these mere tools." Faye glared at him and growled.

"This is why I escaped with Captain and Noah! You never deserved them!"

"They were my children and I raised them how they should've been raised—hating humans!" Herobrine yelled back.

"You called Noah a disgrace and cared nothing for him as long as you controlled over your creations! What happened to Notch's little brother from the books?!" Herobrine's eyes widened angrily and he snarled;

"Don't talk to me about my brother woman. He was selfish and planned to rule everything himself. I only did what I thought was right."

"Well it was _wrong!"_ Faye shouted, swinging herself from Jason's arms, crashing into Herobrine and letting the both of them plummet to the ground.

"Ms. Faye!" Jason screamed, trying to fly downwards and grab her. Ssundee and Husky both looked to where the shout came from upon hearing it. They both shouted, killing the hostiles fighting them and moving quickly toward the fast plummeting lump of fighting. As Herobrine and Faye hit the ground, the battles around them silenced, the hostiles stopping as their creator was taken down. The Sky Army fought off their enemies and forced the hostiles to retreat to the hills. The recruits were about to shout in joy but when their commander yelled out worriedly, requesting a Medical Team the paused to stare at him.

"Quickly, Ant is injured!" A Medical Team burst into action and they gathered Ant in their arms before taking off back to the Sky Base. Turning back to what everyone was beginning to stare at his eyes hardened. "Ms. Faye!"

Just as Sky began to run toward the crash landing, Faye was thrown off Herobrine with a shot of lightning. She flew backwards a bit before sliding to a stop, kneeling on one knee. Mitch and Jerome went over to help her, picking her up under her armpits and supporting her. They watched as she spit blood from her mouth and glared at Herobrine.

Their eyes were drawn to Herobrine as he slowly lifted himself from the ground. "You insolent fool. You think you can take me on? I'd destroy you without hesitation!" Herobrine looked at Faye with crazed eyes, challenging her. Faye struggled to stand by herself but eventually succeeded, holding her side.

"You couldn't even if you tried."

"Faye!" Ssundee exclaimed, running to his sister's side. "Don't anger him that much!"

"Sky, it's time. Take them away from here," Faye looked to Sky and he gulped. The others stared at him, confused. He sighed sadly and moved in front of Faye.

"What are you talking about Ms. Faye, wh-what's going on?" Jerome asked.

"You all have to get away while I stall Herobrine," Faye explained.

"What, no!" Ssundee exclaimed. "You can't! I won't let you!"

Faye shook her head slowly before looking at Ssundee with tear filled eyes. "I have to Ssundee, so you all can defeat him sooner."

"You can't—"

"Ssundee. You will listen to me. I will handle Herobrine for now and you will go with Sky back to our old village, do you understand?" Faye grabbed Ssundee by the shoulders. Ssundee nodded softly, choking down a sob. Turning to Sky she continued, "Sky, take them now."

Sky nodded and began leading the speechless group away from her. She turned to face the white-eyed man, glaring.

"Aw, how sweet, you're so caring to your _family._ You're still going to die." Herobrine smirked menacingly and electricity charged up in his palm.

"Then I'll go out taking you with me."

Herobrine's smirk fell from his face and he threw an electrical charge at her, she jumped out of the way quickly, grabbing her side and controlling her breathing. "What's the use? You're already injured and in bad shape."

Faye spit more blood from her mouth and panted, "I don't care." A sharp intake of breath caused her to cough blood up again and look to her shoulder. An arrow was lodged into the space between her shoulder and neck. She winced and moved to remove the arrow.

"If I don't kill you in the allotted time, then the poison on that arrow surely will." Herobrine's smirk was back. Faye gripped the arrow and growled;

"I won't go down that easily!" With a burst of adrenaline, she ran forward, dodging small bursts of lightning bolts coming at her. As she neared Herobrine, her arm carrying the arrow lifted up as if she was going to stab him, just as she was going to bring it down, she was stopped.

"Silly human," Herobrine chuckled. Faye's arm dropped to her side and she looked down at her chest. The spot where her necklace used to be was covered in blood and Herobrine's arm was inside her. "This will be a lot more fun than I thought." Releasing an electric surge throughout his hand and into Faye, he laughed evilly at the scream of pain Faye released.

He paused in his electrocution to stare at Faye, grinning maniacally. "Of course you couldn't beat me human, I am inhuman!" Faye mumbled something unintelligible causing Herobrine to drag her forward. "What was that woman?"

"Just because you are inhuman does not mean you can't be harmed!" Faye cried, lodging the poisoned arrow into Herobrine's chest. With a cry, Herobrine pulled back and tore the arrow from his chest. "Now you'll be dead from the poison too."

"You idiot!" Herobrine screeched, releasing a large burst of electricity from his hand. Faye screamed in pain once more, falling in a heap on the ground. "I'll kill you!"

He picked Faye up once more and electrocuted her body again, Faye remaining silent as her eyes closed. Blood seeped out from her ears, nose, and mouth. She opened her eyes to look at the night sky. "I'm sorry I couldn't visit you again." A bloodied tear fell from her eye as they closed, never to open again.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"I have to go back and check on her!"

"Ssundee don't!" Sky yelled, chasing after his frantic friend. Ssundee had been fidgeting the entire time they were moving farther away. The others followed after him and Ssundee and they began to get close enough to the battlefield to hear Faye's pained screams.

"Faye!"

"Ms. Faye!"

They were all frantic now, trying their hardest to get to the battlefield. As they neared the scene they began to see the red particles coming from Faye's body. The shards slowly consumed her soul and disappeared into the sky, her body falling away from Herobrine, him kicking it away from him.

"Faye!" Ssundee screamed with tears in his eyes. He grabbed his sword blindly and threw it towards Herobrine, nicking his shoulder. Herobrine hissed and with a flash of white disappeared. Ssundee ran towards the fallen figure and cradled his sister's head in his lap.

"No, no, I-I just… I just go-got you b-back! Please!" The others gathered around him slowly and dropped their heads in respect, each one crying silent tears.


	9. Chapter 8

**Destruction Among Us**

**Chapter Eight**

"Ack, that hurts," Jason whined, complaining about the burn on his right arm. Somehow a ghast's fireball had got through his suit and burned him—looks like he needs to make a few modifications. The nurse smiled softly, pressing a wet cloth to the burned area. Jason winced but looked at where Ant was located. Ant had been injured pretty badly and was unconscious for the moment. Sky refused to leave his brother's side and when they all returned to the Sky Base, Ssundee disappeared to his room.

"Well, that battle could've gone worse," Husky walked through the door, his eyes red. Jason could tell his mudkip friend had been crying, they all had been, he was still pretty sure Jerome had climbed his tree to escape.

Sky chuckled grimly. "I almost lost Ant, and we all lost Ms. Faye—not to mention several recruits' lives." They had a moment of silence for the fallen before speaking again.

"I just—I don't get it. Why would Ms. Faye be so willing to fight Herobrine, knowing that she would die?" Jason asked. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sky fidget and he turned to him, receiving a glare from the nurse. "Sky?"

"I can't keep this from you any longer," Sky sighed. "Ms. Faye came to me when the portals kept popping up. She told me of her plan and made me swear to keep you all in the dark." He looked down at his and Ant's entwined hands. "She-she knew what would happen and she told me that we have to find her old book—that there was a letter in it with instructions."

Husky and Jason glared at him momentarily before realizing that Faye wouldn't have allowed Sky to deny her plan. She would use her power over them to get him on her side. She was manipulative at times too.

"Ne, ne, where's Mama Faye?"

The three awake men looked to the door and Noah stood there, a frown on his face. Sparklez was behind him, also wondering where their caretaker was. Husky sighed, looked at Jason and Sky, and then quickly escaped from the room. He didn't want to have to tell the seven year old his "mama" was dead.

"She's in a better place now Noah," Jason said awkwardly. Noah's gaze hardened into a glare and his white eyes turned to Jason.

"If Mama Faye was in a better place then she would be answering the Nether Star I gave her. She's not answering!" Noah cried. "She said that she would always answer, Mama Faye would never lie to me!" Jason's heart clenched in sympathy for the boy. He knew that Noah would be crushed and probably not talk to anyone for a while.

"Noah, when Jason says 'better place' he means that, Faye, that she… she _died._" Sparklez whispered the last part, bending down to his brother's level.

"No! She can't have died! Mama Faye wouldn't let father kill her!" Noah protested, backing away from his brother.

"She's-"

"No! I won't believe it; Mama Faye didn't survive five years in the horrible place to die by _that man!"_ Noah screamed, tears pooling in his eyes. "Mama Faye is different than everyone else, she-she—" Sparklez pulled the boy to his chest and began whispering comforting words to him. Noah pushed the older away from him and glared at nothing in particular. "I'll kill him for harming Mama Faye." Noah's white eyes flashed brightly and he left the room.

"Noah!"

"Target practice."

Sparklez let his younger brother go, those two words keeping him in his place. Noah was serious—he would fight their "father" when it was time. Sparklez walked to Ant's bedside, pulling a chair up and taking a seat. "How's he doing?"

"The doctors say he should be waking up any time now, but—I can't believe I almost lost him too." Sky answered quietly, not removing his eyes from Ant's face. Jason grunted, his burn finally treated and he pulled a chair up to the foot of the bed. They sat quietly for a few minutes, just basking in the quiet, thinking.

A couple knocks were heard at the door and they turned to see Ssundee there, eyes red and puffy. "Ant doing okay?" Sky nodded in response and Ssundee moved closer. Sparklez got up to offer his chair and go check on Noah, but Ssundee asked him, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit my friend in the medical room, is that a problem?"

Ssundee scoffed before saying, "You weren't even at the battlefield; you don't even know what happened to him."

Sparklez stared at him, sighing, "I know why you're being like this. It's because Faye died and you can't cope with it. I miss her too but-"

"_Don't you dare,"_ Ssundee sneered. "You weren't _there. _You didn't see her soul _leave her body._ You have nothing to say! You barely even talked to her and you say that you miss her? _She was my older sister!" _Ssundee's calm speaking was getting louder by the second until he was screaming. "If you were there, _she might've been saved!" _

The group was silent, a groan from Ant the only noise breaking the silence. "Ant!?" Sky shouted, then clamping a hand over his mouth when another pained groan came from his brother.

"Who was yelling?" Ant moaned, his eyes opening halfway.

"I was," Ssundee raised his hand slightly. "Sorry, didn't know you would wake up."

"But—why were you… yelling about... Ms. Faye?" Ant panted. The group was quiet, Ssundee turning and leaving the room, the others watching him go. He brushed past Mitch and Jerome on his way out, glaring.

The two came inside, Mitch asking, "What's wrong with him?" Sparklez shook his head, leaving also. Mitch gave him a questioning look before turning to the others. "Ant, you're awake!"

Ant groaned, placing a hand on his head. "Please… don't yell." His eyes were drawn to the quiet bacca beside Mitch. "Jerome? What's… wrong?" He was worried for his friend, Jerome's eyes were red and puffy and he kept rubbing at his nose sniffling. Jerome looked at the bedded man, mumbling something incomprehensible, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. Jason sighed, finally deciding to stop beating around the bush.

"Ms. Faye's dead Ant."

Ant's eyes widened and he whispered, "Wh-what?" Tears pooled in his eyes and Sky tugged him towards himself for a comforting hug. When he was in Sky's arms, he sobbed on his brother's shoulder. This caused Jerome to bury his head in Mitch's shoulder and hiccup; trying to keep his own tears in.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

Ssundee walked along the pathway, angrily kicking pebbles off it. Sparklez had no right to even _think _about Faye. She _died _trying to protect him and he dare says he would do anything for her? Ssundee wouldn't put it past him that Sparklez knew about what Faye was getting into and let her do it anyways.

It pissed him off to know that Faye had told certain people what she was doing, but not him. He could've helped! He grumbled angrily before he heard a sound of crushing and he moved towards it. The noise led him into the forest surrounding the hometown inside the Sky Base and he maneuvered through the trees with practiced ease. The crashing noises got louder and Ssundee could see a small figure, _exploding _trees.

Ssundee watched, eyes widening in shock, seeing Noah's white eyes. He was crying and shooting off explosions from his palms. "Noah?"

Noah turned around, ready to kill, but paused when he saw Ssundee. "What?"

"You okay?"

The words seemed to break Noah and he fell to the ground, sobbing. Ssundee rushed forward and awkwardly pulled the seven year old into a hug. Noah buried his face into Ssundee neck, clutching at his shirt. "Why?" Noah hiccupped. "Why Mama Faye?"

Ssundee buried his face into Noah's head and sighed, deciding he cried enough for one day. "I don't know why it had to be Faye."

"She-she could've stay-ed. Sh-she didn't have to go." Noah wailed. Ssundee just held the boy, afraid to say something that would upset him entirely. The boy seemed traumatized at losing someone so close to him for the first time. "I'll kill him. I'll kill that man for Mama Faye."

Ssundee tensed when he realized the seven year old was talking about Herobrine. "Noah," Ssundee sighed, pulling the boy away from him, grabbing his shoulders. "Faye wouldn't want you to go after Herobrine without a plan. She has a letter to us that will help us defeat him." Noah stared at Ssundee for a little before wrapping his arms around the seventeen year old's neck and exclaiming in a cracked voice;

"Thank you Uncle Ssundee!"


	10. Chapter 9

**Destruction Among Us**

**Chapter Nine**

A loud crash echoed throughout the abandoned building. "Be quiet!" Ssundee hissed behind him. Husky chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, slowly walking away from a fallen chair. Ant smirked and rolled his eyes, continuing to move forward with a slight limp.

It had been two weeks since the battle with Herobrine and Faye's passing. Ant had healed, only slightly limping from his injuries. At first, they had all been worried for some people's mental health, considering the fact they all lost several people. They later found out that Noah had a mental breakdown, or any that a seven year old could.

Ssundee and Noah had become a lot closer in the past weeks and could rarely be seen without the other. Jerome had become a lot clingier lately, talking to everyone about more sentimental things. He was obviously affected more than the others—not to mention Mitch had become more protective of him.

The seven of them had finally gotten prepared enough to return to their old village's library where Faye said there was a book. They were sneaking around, hoping to keep quiet and not attract hostile attentions. They had been searching the nearly empty bookcases for half an hour now and had no luck.

"Sky, are you sure she didn't tell you _where _the book was?" Mitch asked, placing a book on the ground.

"I don't remember man, it was a while ago," Sky replied, blowing dust off a book. He sneezed and rubbed at his nose.

"Oh, I found something!" Jerome exclaimed from across the room. Mitch walked over to his side and looked over his friend's shoulder. Jerome brushed off the worn book cover, reading out the title. "_The Corpse._"

"Oh, I remember! Faye used to read that book a lot!" Ssundee exclaimed from his spot, rushing over to take the book from Jerome. He opened the front cover and read what was there. "_Turn to page 34."_ He did as it said and found a small note there. "_Look in the book called A Dreamer's Wish."_

"I just saw that one!" Husky shouted, jumping over a pile of books, tripping, sending books flying before falling into a pile and groaned. He lifted a book out from under him, "Found it." Jason rolled his eyes and walked over to get the book Husky was holding up. He opened the cover and flipped through the pages, stopping when he found a letter confined in an envelope. He removed the letter and began to open it.

"What's it say?"

Jason cleared his throat and began reading from the letter. "_It's that time now, huh?_

"_If you boys are reading this, or anyone is reading this then it must mean I told you where to find this letter. If I never told you, then you have to be good at finding things. _

"_If I am with you while you read this then I forgot the coordinates to the portal, and if I'm not, then I'm probably dead and it's time to take down Herobrine. But, let's get on with what I actually have to tell you._

"_When I turned seventeen, I went out on a small journey—or at least it was supposed to be a small journey. I had left Ssundee with Sky and Ant's family so I could go out in search of more silver, what I didn't expect was to stumble upon a stronghold. I wandered that forgotten place for what seemed like days. I placed torches everywhere and found an ancient library inside it. I found so many forgotten items that you can't find anywhere in the world. I was fascinated by the stronghold that I didn't expect to one day find the End Portal. _

"_This portal was already activated, as if someone had already been there. I studied the portal, making sure I knew what caused it to form and many other things. But one day, while I was inspecting the Ender Eye's in the keyholes, I was pushed inside the portal and entered the End._

"_I was transported to an obsidian platform underground. There was already a staircase built upwards to the surface, and I followed it. Around the End Stone were several Endermen and Obsidian Towers with glowing balls on top of them. There was a screech above me and a dragon blew past me, knocking me to the ground. I had stood to stare at the dragon in awe. I had never seen one before and it amazed me. I didn't try to fight the dragon—and he didn't attack me back. I had decided to do research on it to bring back home._

"_I built a base up in the sky and several times the dragon came to destroy it, but I continued on. I was careful not to look at the Endermen but they watched me with curiosity. When it seemed as though days passed—which was only a few hours—I had run out of food to keep my exhaustion away. I had to resort to eating the Golden Apples I had found inside the stronghold. But when I took one from my pack, the dragon appeared before me, tilting its head in curiosity, like that of a dog. _

"_I watched it shortly before offering the Golden Apple to the dragon, which took it and ate it happily. He became like a giant, flying dog. He had even licked my face like a dog and allowed me to ride on top him—I had even given him a name, Elliot. It was amazing, to actually be able to fly even if it was a short time. I knew I had to get back home to everyone—but the End, it was peaceful, without any of the fighting and wars. But the day I was going to try and find a way out, _he _appeared._

"_He had shown up out of nowhere, flying down from the purple sky. His wings reminded me of the Enderdragon's, his red eyes cold and piercing through my very being. I had at first thought it was Endless, the ruler of the End, but he said he wasn't when I asked him. He told me that Endless was his father and he had been watching me for the time that I had been there. He had asked me how he knew that the Enderdragon's one weakness was someone that treated him with kindness and gave him a treat. I only told him that I thought everyone needed a bit of kindness in their lives._

"_When I asked for his name he told me it was Deadlox. He said that while he was watching me, he wanted to know more about me. His plan was to keep me there—so that he could learn about the beings outside of the dimension he resides in. I had even met his friend Seto the Sorcerer. Seto was the one that came through the portal before me, but didn't have the heart do destroy a magnificent dragon as the only way to return home. Seto was over hundreds of years old, as was Deadlox because, you don't age in the End. _

"_I spent a few days with Deadlox and Seto, telling them about the Overworld, but I knew that I had to leave soon. They told me the only way out was to kill Elliot, but I couldn't. They said there was another way, but wouldn't tell me when I asked. Neither of them wanted me to leave. _

"_I told them I had to go back, that I had a younger brother waiting for me. They had refused, but I promised to return the next year. Deadlox was stubborn about it and refused to allow me to leave, claiming that I was his. Seto convinced him otherwise. They created a portal for me to go back after I promised to visit again. _

"_I had gone back several times before, making up excuses that I wanted to search for lost treasures. On my eighteenth birthday, I had gone to the End a total of seventeen times. When I got there again, Deadlox claimed that he had fallen in love with me during my visits. I didn't want to tell him that I had as well, but he kept bugging me about it. I had continued going back and eventually I did tell him, but nothing much happened. _

"_I had to stop returning to the End because the paranoid people in our village were becoming suspicious every time I disappeared with no real explanation. That was the year Ssundee and his friends all turned twelve. And that finishes the story of so long ago. _

"_But that is only the beginning. I know that Deadlox's power is the only power that can hold up against Herobrine's, especially if he keeps gaining more power over the years. Spies sent to the Underworld—the ones that would come back—told us that Herobrine was coming up with new armies to fight us. I wrote this note soon after that and left the coordinates to the End Portal in its confinements. _

"_Whoever is reading this, please, you have to convince Deadlox to come to the Overworld and fight on our side. It's time Herobrine is taken down and only the person that has the portal's coordinates will find him. _

"_When you reach the portal and enter it, give the Enderdragon a golden apple and call him Elliot, see if he responds. If he does, tell him that Faye sent you and go get Deadlox. Please, you have to stop Herobrine once and for all!_

"_Faye."_

When Jason finished reading the letter, the others were in shock. Sure, they remembered Faye leaving for certain amounts of time, but thought nothing of it. They trusted Faye and didn't think she was up to anything. "Never in a million year would I have thought that Ms. Faye had found an End Portal," Ant said, breaking the silence.

"We have to go there," Ssundee said, his face determined. He took the letter from Jason and turned it over. "The End Portals' coordinates are on the back."

"But what about—"

"I don't care, we have to go there and stop Herobrine like Faye wanted us to from this letter," Ssundee told them. "If you don't agree with me, then I'll go by myself."

Sky sighed, looking at the letter in his friend's hands. "It's what Ms. Faye wanted, wasn't it?" He grinned at Ssundee and stuck his hand in the middle. "For Ms. Faye." The others agreed one at a time, all putting their hands on top of Sky's, grinning.

"For Ms. Faye!"


	11. Chapter 10

Destruction Among Us

Chapter Ten

"Hey, watch it!" Jason grumbled, pushing at Ssundee. They were in a _very _narrow walk way and it was very hot considering the lava nearby. Sky sighed as the two men began to fight once again. How are they supposed to find the stronghold if they kept acting like small children? Heck, Noah was with them and was tempted to yell at the two.

"Would you two _quit it?_"

Ant snickered from behind Sky. "Looks like Husky finally snapped." Sky shook his head but moved forward, leading the group. The group followed after one another, most keeping quiet and listening for any hostiles nearby. That's when Sky heard _it._

"Wait," he stopped, causing Ant to bump into his back and the others to stop as well. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Mitch asked, his eyebrow raised in question.

"That noise…" Sky trailed off, using his pickaxe to mine the wall next to him. He mined forward a few blocks before coming across stone bricks. "…"

"What is it Sky?" Ant called into his makeshift tunnel.

"I found some stone bricks; do you think it's safe to mine them away?"

"Yeah, just make sure to have a sword handy in case it's silverfish stone." Sky nodded and made sure to hold his sword in his other hand as he mined away the bricks.

When no silverfish came after him, he stuck his head forward to look into the abandoned place. A few torches were along the ground and as he moved inside the room and looked right, he saw a sign. The sign read _"Go right for Center; go left for Prison Cells." _

"Hmmm," Ant studied the sign from behind his brother. "Should we go right or left?"

"Well, we are looking for an End Portal, so I'd assume we go to the Center of the Stronghold and go from there," Jerome pointed out, coming to join the two, Mitch following close behind. Sky nodded.

"I guess that's the best idea for now." Turning to the others looking around behind them, he called, "Let's go this way." He pointed to the right and Noah and Ssundee both ran past him.

"I bet I can beat you!"

"Not on your life!"

"You guys don't even know where we're going!" Sparklez shouted, chasing after the two. Husky came up next to Mitch and sighed.

"Glad I don't have to babysit those two."

The group of five continued onward, snickering to themselves quietly.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"Noah, Ssundee, get back here!" Sparklez yelled. He had been chasing after the two for quite a while now, passing by several signs that would direct them the right way. Torches were placed all along the walls and it was getting hotter by the second in the Stronghold.

"Never!" Noah and Ssundee both shouted back to him. They seemed to be getting faster; or maybe Sparklez was getting slower. He sighed, pausing for a second and watching the two run around a corner. He shook his head and walked after them, trying to catch his breath. When he turned the corner, he didn't expect to find the End Portal so soon.

Noah and Ssundee were staring at the small room in shock, the portal was making a small _whizzing _sound and purple particles were floating all around it. Sparklez looked around the room for any recognition that someone was here but saw nothing. The lava pools around the area were covered with cobblestone and an empty chest sat on the far corner of the room. Sparklez yelled behind him to try and get the others to hurry before they all went into the portal.

Ant, Sky, Jason, Husky, Mitch, and Jerome all came barreling down the hall, bumping into Ssundee, Noah, and Sparklez. They fell to the ground in a pile, laughing slightly. They stopped when they saw the portal.

"So, we're about to find out who was so important to Ms. Faye, huh?" Mitch said, beginning to go up the stairs to the portal. Jerome followed closely behind him and they both jumped into the portal. Each man began to jump in, one after the other, and Sparklez jumped in last.

The teleportation wasn't quick. It had seemed like they were falling through the Void, black sparkles all around them, floating up as they fell downwards, unable to stop. The portal had made Jason's jetpack useless for the moment and their mouths were open in silent screams. "The portal had taken away their voices as well, leaving them flailing in the black darkness. Sparklez kept an eye on his younger brother, to make sure he was alright. Noah seemed to be having _fun,_ though. He was smiling and doing flips—front and back.

The air around them began to thicken, making it harder to breath. Sparklez turned in his position from falling and saw a ground platform coming up. The ground was white and his eyes widened as they all got closer, disappearing through the ground and ending up on an obsidian platform. They were all in different positions on the platform, Ssundee hanging off and Noah giggling madly. Sparklez looked around him and saw a dark sky that was still lit up somehow—along with white stone everywhere.

There was an altar with obsidian towers around it in the middle of the white stone. Endermen were littered everywhere and the group was careful not to look at them. When they actually got closer to the altar, they heard a screech from above them.

Sparklez looked up and saw an Enderdragon diving downwards at an alarming pace. They dove out of the way as the dragon flew over them. "Sky, you have the apple!"

Sky looked to Mitch and his eyes widened in realization. "Crap, what was its name!?" Sky shouted, pulling the Golden Apple from his bag.

Jerome huffed and took the apple from him, holding it upwards to where the dragon was soaring overhead, yelling, "Here, Elliot, here boy!" The dragon seemed to perk up like a dog and flew downwards, swooping in to remove the apple from Jerome's hands.

He ate it in one bite, then bounding over to Jerome's side, licking him— successfully knocking him over. Jerome laughed, before saying, "Come on, Elliot." The dragon allowed him to get up. Jerome placed a hand on Elliot's nose. "I need you to go find Deadlox please, Ms. Faye wants you to."

The dragon hopped up and down happily before looking upwards, then cowering behind Jerome. "Eh, Elliot?"

"_Who are you and how do you know of Elliot?"_


	12. Chapter 11

**Destruction Among Us **

**Chapter Eleven **

"Wait, what?" Sky looked upwards and a figure with black wings flew above them. He was floating there, glaring at them. As the figure descended lower, Sky began to see that it was a man with red eyes.

"No one knows of his true name." the man's voice echoed throughout the place. "How did you?"

Ssundee took a step forward and gulped. "My sister told me his name."

"You are not her brother."

"Yes I am!" Ssundee protested loudly. "Faye told us in a letter about this place, how to find it, and what to do in it! She wanted us to ask for Deadlox's help!"

"Then where is she?" another figure, glowing purple, floated downwards next to the other. "Where is Princess Faye?"

"Princess?" Jerome whispered to Mitch, utterly confused. He didn't think that Faye had any relation to the End.

"Ms. Faye was killed by Herobrine in a battle five weeks ago," Jason informed the man. "She sent us to find her letter with instructions to get help from Deadlox in the End. Do you know where we can find him?"

"I am him." The red eyed man said, falling to the ground in a squat before standing up straight to confront the group. Noah hid behind Sparklez, staring at Deadlox.

"Deadlox, quit it with the voice, you're scaring the kid," the other came down softly next to his friend, the purple coming from him dissipating. Deadlox sighed before clearing his throat.

"Why did Faye send you here?"

"She told us that you're the only one that can defeat Herobrine," Sparklez spoke up from the back.

Deadlox eyed Sparklez and Noah warily, beginning to walk closer to the two. "Why do I sense inhuman abilities on you?" Deadlox looked from Sparklez to Noah, his eyes widening in anger. 'You are Herobrine's children!" Turning back to Ssundee he yelled, "You dare bring Underworldly beings into my dimension!?"

Ssundee was quiet for a few moments. He didn't have an answer for the powerful being. Just as he was about to mumble out an excuse, Noah spoke up. "Why do you matter to Mama Faye? If you can't help then we'll leave. I want to get that monster dead for Mama Faye." Ssundee turned around to see Noah crossing his arms defiantly, glaring at the End being.

"Why do you call her mama Faye?" Seto asked from the front, ignoring the stare down from Deadlox on the seven year old.

"She's my Mama Faye. And if you don't want to help, then let us leave." Deadlox glared at him, huffing slightly, also crossing his arms.

"You said Faye is dead?" Deadlox turned to Jason, watching him nod. "Then I have no business with you all. Leave my dimension." He turned around quickly, his wings unraveling from their position on his back, showing their full 15 foot glory. He began to fly upwards, disappearing in midair.

"I suppose I'll send you back now." Seto said, chanting words quietly, collecting power in his palms.

"Wait!" Ant shouted, stopping Seto's power collecting. "We can't go back without you guys! Ms. Faye wanted us to get your help; she said that Deadlox's power was the only one that could stop Herobrine!"

Seto shook his head. "If Prince Deadlox does not wish to help you, then I have no say in it."

"Great, we came all this way for nothing." Ssundee exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "How am I supposed to visit Faye, saying I failed her last wish?" Ssundee's voice was down-trodden. He couldn't go to his sister's grave, saying he failed—that'd make her freak up in Heaven.

"It's alright Ssundee; we'll just figure something else out. I'm sure that is Noah and Sparklez train hard enough, they can defeat Herobrine," Sky patted his friend on the back, trying to cheer him up.

"Wait, did you say your name was Ssundee?" The group looked at the brown haired man questioningly. Ssundee nodded once in affirmation. "So you really are Princess Faye's younger brother then."

"Yeah, she's always been my big sis, sometimes my mom," Ssundee confirmed, smiling slightly.

"She's been there for all of us and we were hoping to finish her last wish—to defeat Herobrine," Ant paused, thinking of the right phrase. "It's the least we can do after Herobrine brutally murdered her."

"Princess Faye changed Prince Deadlox for the better. He used to be cold and cruel, and then she came along, taming the Enderdragon and intriguing Deadlox. She visited often, until five years ago. She suddenly stopped her visits and it upset Prince Deadlox greatly," Seto explained. "He hasn't been the same ever since."

"She had stopped visiting because our village was attacked and she was captured by Herobrine's minions," Sky informed. He knew exactly what was going on. If they kept going in this direction, the Sorcerer would be on their side eventually and agree to try and get Deadlox's help.

"That Underworld creature took Princess Faye?" Sky nodded along with Ssundee and Husky. "That—"

"Will you help us take him down?" Sparklez spoke up finally. Seto looked at him suspiciously.

"Why do you two wish to destroy your father?"

"He's not our father," Noah and Sparklez said together, "he's our enemy." Seto eyed them before sighing slightly, finally accepting the situation.

"I suppose that it's what Princess Faye wished for—then I should grant it. I will try my best to gain Prince Deadlox's consent." Seto began to glow purple once more, beginning to float upwards.

"Hang on!" Ssundee called after him. Seto looked down at him in question. "Why is Faye so important to Deadlox?"

Seto smiled softly, floating up as he said, "They were married together almost seven years ago."


	13. Chapter 12

**Destruction Among Us**

**Chapter 12**

"Deadlox?"

"Have you gotten rid of the outsiders yet Seto?"

"No, I haven't, but for good reason!" Deadlox spun around on his friend. He had wanted the outsiders to leave—so he got Seto to send them back to the Overworld. He angrily walked over to Seto and grabbed the front of his shirt.

"_I told you to get rid of them! I have no business with them!" _Deadlox shouted at the Sorcerer. Seto grabbed at Deadlox's hand, releasing a calming magic into his friend. Deadlox dropped Seto and huffed angrily.

"I said I have a good reason. Princess Faye's brother is down there and they all only want to fulfill Princess Faye's last wish." Deadlox looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Her wish to destroy Herobrine once and for all."

Deadlox sighed, moving to look down at a screen in the room. "Faye disappeared five years ago, she died at that time."

"That's where you're wrong Deadlox," Seto's head shook back and forth. "She was taken by Herobrine—or so her brother says. Forced to be a slave or something of the like."

Deadlox's eyes flashed violently, before closing as he turned away. "I refuse to believe that she was taken."

"Deadlox!" Seto exclaimed, aggravated his friend didn't believe him.

"_Why should I believe people I've never met!?" _Deadlox snapped, his red eyes glowing brightly.

"Then why don't we take a look inside her memories?" Seto asked, moving to put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"But, I promised I wouldn't do that to her…"

"It's the only way to find out the truth, Deadlox." Deadlox nodded, lowering his head. Seto stepped back a few steps and chanted quiet words. The room became darker and his eyes began to glow a purple. He surrounded Deadlox in the purple light and the two were flashed into one of Faye's memories.

"_Ssundee!" _

"_I'm coming!" a little boy ran through a door and stood in front of Faye. _

"_I thought I told you to pick up your toys in the living room?" Faye placed her fists on her hips. Ssundee released a pitiful whine and trudged into the other room. Faye shook her head, smiling slightly. _

Deadlox could tell that this was before he met Faye, that it was a few years before. He recognized the little boy as the one from before, the one that claimed to be Faye's younger brother. "He was apparently telling the truth." The scene moved by quickly, changing into another.

"_Ms. Faye!" _

_Faye turned around to see a small boy with brown hair running through the door. "Eh, Jerome, what's wrong?"_

"_I-I was playing… and a squirrel came up… an-and he bit me!" Little Jerome wailed, showing his finger to Faye. _

"_Oh, no! That's terrible!" Faye gasped, hand covering her mouth in shock. "Let's get that cleaned up, shall we?" Little Jerome nodded, following Faye like a lost puppy. She put him on the counter and turned on the faucet._

"_Ms. Faye?"_

"_Hm?"_

"_Why do animals always bite me?" _

_Faye glanced at the confused boy, before replying as she put a Band-Aid on his finger. "You just have to get more in touch with your 'Wild Side'." Faye smiled at him. _

"_Then I'll go try and make friends with the squirrel again!" Little Jerome jumped off the counter and ran outside._

"_No, Jerome, wait!"_

Deadlox sighed. "Seto, this isn't what I wanted to see." The scene changed once more and it was like he was running for his life as well.

_"Hurry Ssundee! Go!" Faye yelled to her now twelve year old brother. _

_"B-but Faye!" _

_"No Ssundee! Go now! Run while you still can! I'll hold them off!" Faye pushed him up onto a ledge; too high for anything to climb up. "You have to find Sky and the others! They should be in the safe house! I left instructions behind the bookcase, pull the book on the far right and inside a chest will be instructions on what to do in order to get away. You have to find everyone else and promise me that you'll protect one another from the hostiles." Ssundee nodded with tears in his eyes. _

_"B-but what a-about you?" Faye shook her head and looked at him with saddened eyes. _

_"I'll hold them off for as long as I can to buy you some time. Take this and make sure you do as the book says," Faye removed an iron sword from a sheath on her hip, putting next to Ssundee and gripping her diamond sword tightly. "I love you Ssundee, stay strong." she turned around and began to walk toward the attacking monsters in the long abandoned village. _

_"Faye!" Faye ran from her brother and swung her sword at the hostiles' heads. She dodged arrows and hit creepers into buildings away from her. She glanced behind her and wiped at her eyes as she saw Ssundee climb up higher and run away. She had to give him time, even if it cost it her own life. _

The scene changed from the gory scene of dead hostiles to a dark red room, a man sitting on a throne in the front.

"_Why did they bring me here!? Why didn't they let me die!?" Faye screamed at the man from inside a cage._

"_Those insolent fool— I send them to find a suitable person to lead my army and they find me a _human_?" the figure mumbled, getting up from his throne and going to Faye's cage. He stared at her with his white eyes and ordered the pigmen to the side, "Kill her."_

"_Wait!" Faye looked to the small, childlike voice. "Father, why must you kill her?"_

"_Sparklez, take Noah and go back to your rooms," Herobrine ordered._

"_No, I wanna keep her father," the small Herobrine copy protested. He ran up to Faye and grabbed her hand. _

"_Fine, but she's your responsibility."_

Deadlox glared at the little child in Faye's memories. He wanted to _keep _her? She was not a play thing! Just as he was about to protest, the scene changed.

"_Don't say a word, just close your eyes and it will be alright. Let the warmth of a blanket overtake you, and keep your dreams sweet. Things will be alright."_

"_Will everything really be okay Mama Faye?" Faye was cut off from her song by a small child that was crying in her neck. _

"_Yes, Noah, I promise." _

Deadlox blinked slightly. How could Faye actually be kind to Herobrine's child? He was evil. The scene morphed once more and he watched as Faye appeared on a hill.

"_What is it Ms. Faye?" _

"_Jason, I need you to fly me up to Herobrine." Jason's eyes widened behind his helmet but before he could ask why she continued. "Please Jason." Jason nodded and picked the brown haired girl up by the arms._

_He flew Faye a few feet from where Herobrine floated. "Herobrine!"_

The scene fast forwarded and Deadlox watched as Faye ran at Herobrine, screaming.

"_I won't go down that easily!" With a burst of adrenaline, she ran forward, dodging small bursts of lightning bolts coming at her. As she neared Herobrine, her arm carrying the arrow lifted up as if she was going to stab him, just as she was going to bring it down, she was stopped. _

"_Silly human," Herobrine chuckled. Faye's arm dropped to her side and she looked down at her chest. The spot where her necklace used to be was covered in blood and Herobrine's arm was inside her. "This will be a lot more fun than I thought." Releasing an electric surge throughout his hand and into Faye, he laughed evilly at the scream of pain Faye released. _

_He paused in his electrocution to stare at Faye, grinning maniacally. "Of course you couldn't beat me human, I am inhuman!" Faye mumbled something unintelligible causing Herobrine to drag her forward. "What was that woman?" _

"_Just because you are inhuman does not mean you can't be harmed!" Faye cried, lodging the poisoned arrow into Herobrine's chest. With a cry, Herobrine pulled back and tore the arrow from his chest. "Now you'll be dead from the poison too." _

"_You idiot!" Herobrine screeched, releasing a large burst of electricity from his hand. Faye screamed in pain once more, falling in a heap on the ground. "I'll kill you!" _

_He picked Faye up once more and electrocuted her body again, Faye remaining silent as her eyes closed. Blood seeped out from her ears, nose, and mouth. She opened her eyes to look at the night sky. "I'm sorry I couldn't visit you again."_

Deadlox heard one last thought from Faye, _"I love you." _He clenched his fists tightly as the memories vanished, telling him what he already knew. He watched as the room went from dark to light again and Seto stopped glowing.

"Do you see now Deadlox?"

"I still don't get why I have to help them." Deadlox turned away from him.

"I should've shown you a particular memory then." The room became black—a purple glow coming from Seto—once more and a scene came into Deadlox's mind.

"_I hope that someone will find this at the right time. I hope that they'll do what it says." Faye was in the corner of a room, a yellow light the only light source in the room. She wrote a few words down on the paper before reading the last bit she just wrote._

"When you reach the portal and enter it, give the Enderdragon a golden apple and call him Elliot, see if he responds. If he does, tell him that Faye sent you and go get Deadlox. Please, you have to stop Herobrine once and for all!"

"_And then I'll sign it," She wrote her name down underneath the final paragraph and reached for a book on the desk. "I'll put it here and return this book to the library to avoid hostiles from finding it." She stuffed the letter into the book and placed it on her desk._

_After turning off the lamp, she moved over to her bed, lay down and pulled the covers over her. She closed her eyes slightly before saying, "Please, Deadlox, help them." _

The room flashed light again and Deadlox stared at Seto with wide eyes. "Was that real or did you make that up?"

"Deadlox, you know I can't make up others' memories," Seto told his friend.

"But, why wouldn't she tell me about things that happened to her in the Overworld?" Deadlox was confused. When the two were married seven years ago, he had told her everything, the history of the End, why his father never showed his face or came around. He didn't know she was keeping things from him.

"She once told me that you were troubled with ruling over the End—she didn't want to bother you with her problems."

"But, I told her that she could tell me anything. I loved her with my very being!"

"Calm down Deadlox," Seto placed a calming spell on his friend before speaking again. "She loved you as well, maybe even more. She would have betrayed her own world to be with you if not for her brother." Seto placed a comforting hand on the End Prince's shoulder, repeating words that Faye had once told him. "Now don't you think you should help them—as Princess Faye's last request?"

"I just-"

"Your brother in law is after all asking for your help as well."

Deadlox's eyes widened in realization. _That's right._ _Overworldly customs involve that two married beings from different families were united as one group._ He had more family then; he wouldn't be alone any longer!

"Alright, I'll help them—but only for Faye."


	14. Chapter 13

**Destruction Among Us**

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Sir?"

Herobrine spun around on the blaze and disintegrated it. That despicable woman had injured him more than he thought. The arrow, combined with its poison, had made his arm immobilized for a few weeks and the "_doctors_" of the Underworld had told him he needed to recuperate.

"I should be out taking revenge on those imbeciles!" Herobrine shouted, his voice booming over every other noise in the room. He was angry, and he let it plainly show.

"But, sir-"

Herobrine spun again, shooting lightning from his palm and exploding his creation where it once stood.

"Lord Herobrine!" He spun around and shot more lightning but the pigman dodged out of the way. "Sir, if you leave now with no set plan then they _will_ take you out and you _will_ be defeated!" Herobrine paused in his movements, contemplating on believing the pigman. "They are surely waiting for you."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Herobrine lowered his arm and closed his eyes- becoming calmer.

"A group of your most trusted subjects have gathered together and came up with a plan to destroy the human race once and for all," the pigman stated, bowing as a sign of respect.

"Take me there."

The pigman stood and left the destroyed room, Herobrine following after him- the rest in the room bowing low.

In actuality, Herobrine didn't care if his trusted subjects created a plan while he was out of commission. He only agreed to listen because he was furious that a mere human injured him. That _woman_, Faye- he sneered at the thought of her-, was definitely not normal and was touched by an inhuman being. He could sense a strange dark presence on her- one he hadn't sensed in so long.

He shook his head and growled, why was he thinking of the past when victory was _so close_. After so long, he would finally get revenge on his brother for creating the Overworld and not able-ing him to add in his own creations. Notch was selfish in his actions and Herobrine was fine with not doing anything, until he began getting selfish and cruel.

Notch had ruled over his creations- watching them, helping those that needed it. But when he returned to the home that they all shared- above the land- he became a totally different person. He had called him and their eldest brother- Herobrine and Endless- lazy ingrates that couldn't do things for themselves. And of course, Herobrine fought back.

He refused to sit there and take it, just because he was the youngest brother, did not mean that he had to sit around and take whatever his elder brother told him. Herobrine had a plan back then, but when his eldest brother, Endless had taken the side of Notch, he broke off from his family. He hadn't spoken to either of them in so long, and frankly, he didn't care. He no longer considered them his brothers.

He followed the pigman into a conference room and saw several of his trusted companions there already. "Ah, Lord Herobrine, so _nice_ of you to join us."

Herobrine glared at Alum, a grinning blaze. "If you had told me of this sooner, I would have come earlier."

Alum held his arms up in surrender, "No need to get _feisty _now- we are all here for a reason."

Adranga, a grumpy pigman, smirked, "The destruction of the human race."

"The lazy brats that Notch created," Carmen, a mischievous creeper, hissed.

"Tell me your plan."

"Well Lord Herobrine, while you were _busy_," Diablo, a skeleton, cackled before continuing. "We gathered to finally be rid of the despicable human beings that walk the Overworld."

"Our spies tell us that the group that stayed with the woman Faye had recently disappeared," Carmen hissed. "My children told me that they went down into caves in search of a stronghold."

"My spies told me they found it, but they did give them some trouble," Silva, a silverfish, told him. "They weren't able to tell me if they found something there."

"We have information that the humans found an already used End Portal."

"That's what I sensed on her!" Herobrine exclaimed. The five looked at him strangely and he elaborated. "While she was a prisoner here, I kept sensing an inhuman presence on her. It must have been the End presence."

"That _woman _has been to the End?" Silva glared at Herobrine.

"Does this mean that those _humans _have gained access and the help of the End?" Carmen hissed angrily.

"If they have Endermen or even Endless on their side, we will be destroyed instantaneously," Adranga snorted.

"I do not believe Endless would get in this battle—he did after all run away when you and Notch were fighting long ago," Alum sighed.

"But, my elder brother does have the capability to have children."

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"We don't know exactly when he'll show up but we do know he'll come for his revenge soon," Ant said to the surrounding people. They were currently in a meeting with the top leaders for each squad. Sky, Jason, Husky, Sparklez, and Deadlox were around the long table as well, listening to the plans being made.

After Deadlox and Seto had agreed to help them in their conquest to finally defeat Herobrine, they all returned to the Sky Base, told the recruits of what was to come, and gathered the commanding officers for each squad that volunteered to go into battle. They were warned of what might happen and none cared of the consequences. The recruits all believed it was time for Herobrine's reign of terror to end. It was time to end everything, _once and for all._

"We have sent s few of our people to the Underworld in disguise. They have sent back positive reports and have told u that Herobrine has been out of commission for a while, whoever fought him really did a number on him," Rose said, reading from a paper that one of her squad members gave to her.

"But we have intel that a group of Herobrine's trusted advisors have gathered to form a plan of action," Nicholas stated from his seat.

"And there is reason to believe that Herobrine will be attacking sooner than we think," Jason said. The others nodded, agreeing with him. There was no telling when Herobrine would attack—or if he would even attack them.

"Then we must take this time to come up with a plan when he does come," Sky placed his hands on the table, standing up abruptly.

"We have a total of eight squads prepared for battle," Ant informed, glancing down at the notebook in front of him.

"We will attack in teams of two—each squad will be combined with another that compliments the others' abilities," Sky explained. "Alpha and Charlie will combine together, Bravo and Foxtrot too."

"Then Delta and Echo, and finally Golf and Hotel will be together. Each squad leader will tell their squads and work together. Alpha-Charlie will go in from the rear, Bravo-Foxtrot the left, Delta-Echo the right and Golf-Hotel the front. Jason's Moon Brigade will come from above and we'll count on Husky to inform us if any creatures come by sea," Ant read out. He and Sky had already planned most things out, they just needed consent from the others.

"So when we find out where Herobrine is, we will move in from all directions?" Rose asked.

Sky leaned back in his chair. "Yes, we will need to gear up and have each new partner squads train together to get better acquainted. Inform your squads and be prepared for a call at any time."

The eight squad leaders all nodded, standing from their seats—breaking off into their respective partnerships. Jason, Husky, Sky, and Ant were left in the room, beginning to contemplate on the choices they made. "Do you think everyone will make it out okay?" Jason asked, pulling an innocent face.

Husky sighed, covering his face with his hands. "We'll no doubt lose people, but hopefully most will survive."

"They know what they are getting in to. They all have agreed to the circumstances of what might happen," Sky was grim. He didn't want to lose anyone unnecessarily. He actually didn't even want his friends to come—they were his family basically. They had already been through so much, but he knew they had to do it, for Faye.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"Jerome?" Mitch watched as his close friend shook his head lightly, not moving from his place on the tree. "C'mon biggums, answer me."

Jerome sighed lightly, turning his head slightly to look at Mitch from the corner of his eye. "Do you think we have a chance against Herobrine? I mean, Ms. Faye couldn't even hold a candle to him—how can we ever succeed in taking him down?"

"Jerome, we have Deadlox, the _End Prince_, and Seto, _a sorcerer. _I think we'll have a fair enough chance."

"No, I mean that will we all make it out alive?" Jerome jumped from the tree branch, turning as he did to face his best friend. "We all are going into battle, knowing the consequences and possibilities—but is it all really worth it?"

Mitch stared at him. Jerome was questioning the purpose for doing everything they had up til now? Sure, he was closer to Faye than most of them, besides Ssundee, but was he that upset? "Biggums, you know why we're doing this. We have to avenge Ms. Faye. It's what she wanted."

Jerome chuckled lightly. "But, would she really want us to risk our lives for her dream?"

Mitch clenched his fists, grinding his teeth together. Before, Jerome never would have questioned Faye's motives or reasons. Something was happening to his best friend—and he didn't like it. Rushing forward, Mitch dropped his hands onto Jerome's shoulders and shook him lightly. "You know that Ms. Faye had always dreamed of living in a hostile free world! She told us stories and wishes that she hoped would come true! You can't be second guessing her now Jerome!"

Jerome's head fell, his bangs covering his eyes. Mitch couldn't see his face, but he could tell when his best friend was close to tears. Jerome's shoulders shook lightly as he forced his eyes to stay close. "I-I can't Mitch—no more. There's too much pain in knowing that she's gone and we'll never see her again." He looked up into brown eyes, tears leaking from his eyes.

"Jerome, she'll always be with us—if not in person, then in spirit," Mitch paused, pulling the smaller male into a hug. "She will always have a place in each of our hearts, she won't ever be forgotten."

Jerome's eyes opened shortly, before closing once more, salty tears running down his cheeks. He tucked his head under Mitch's chin and held tightly to his hoodie. Mitch had always been there for him in his worst times. It seemed that Mitch had radar or something installed that told him whenever Jerome was feeling bad—sad or angry. They were closer than friends—brothers at heart.

A few minutes later and Jerome pulled away. "Thanks Biggums," he sniffed, wiping at his nose. Mitch pat his head lightly, rustling his hair.

"Anytime dood." Smiling, Mitch moved behind Jerome and began to push him back to the Sky Base. "Now how about we go see what everyone else has planned while you moped about?" _That_ made Jerome laugh brightly.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"Set the plan in motion."

Silva nodded from her position to the right of Herobrine, speaking into her headset. "Acknowledge phase one Alum."

"Roger that." And Silva could _see _the smirk on the blaze's face. A muffled order came through the headset and she turned to speak to Herobrine once more. "Phase one is a go."

"Perfect, send in the skeletons and zombies, we will follow shortly after," Herobrine smirked maliciously, fingering the small keypad under his right hand. He moved the giant contraption, he and Silva currently resided in, forward. They would go through a portal and enter the Overworld, finally destroying the pathetic humans. Herobrine would finally get his revenge and prove that he is greater than his elder brother, Notch.

Silva sent more order through to the others before telling Herobrine that he could move through the portal. The large contraption of a figured beast, stomped through the portal, creating a large crater on the grass underneath its foot.

Herobrine grinned evilly. He could already hear the shouts of the humans that could see his beast. Their screams of terror and a few of _"Call the Sky Base!" _Corrupted laughter erupted from his chest as he moved the beast forward to crush the village beneath it.

"_**Like those fools can help you now!"**_


	15. Chapter 14

**Destruction Among Us- Ch. 14**

"All squads move in to position!" Sky shouted into his comm. unit. After several confirmations from squad leaders, Sky turned to Ant. "Keep a look out for any openings that may be of use." Jumping from the platform and landing safely on the ground, Sky ran. He heard the thumps of Jerome, Mitch, Husky, Deadlox, Seto, Ssundee, Sparklez, and Noah behind him, all running quickly to the battle before them. Jason flew upwards with his brigade and fired several antagonizing weapons at the giant contraption Herobrine summoned. Sky and the others carefully took out the hostiles surrounding the bottom. Troops from each squad surrounded the large beast, sending ropes over it to bring it to the ground.

"Commander, we're ready!"

Sky looked upwards, then turning around and yelling, "Everyone move clear! We're bringing it down!" Everyone near the beast ran for cover and Sky ordered Jason's team to take it out.

The Sky Army watched as the large contraption fell to the ground. They cheered loudly at the defeat of it. "Hold your positions!" Sky shouted through to the squad leaders. "I don't think Herobrine would send something so easy as his first line of attack!"

And true to Sky's word, several Underworld hostiles exploded from the confinements of the beast, coming from everywhere. Portals began to surround the battle, many more hostiles leaving them. Several shouts of warnings flew through the comm. units and Sky armed his double swords. Ssundee smirked behind him, arming his own weapons. "Ready friend?"

"Let's do this!" With a roar, Sky and Ssundee raced into battle, striking down hostiles and saving a few recruits' lives.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

Across the battlefield, Jerome and Mitch stood, back to back. They shot arrows at each hostile that came near them. If any came to close for arrows, Jerome whipped out his axe and Mitch his sword. They fought like one person, knowing the other's next move perfectly. "Kills for days, biggums!"

"That's right!" Mitch laughed as he sliced a zombie pigman in half. "They never stood a chance!"

Jerome didn't answer his friend, too preoccupied with Herobrine leaving the fallen beast, a few supposedly important figures behind him. Jerome could tell that Herobrine and his "posse" were going to take out the group of recruits before them. He left Mitch, just as Herobrine motioned for the figures behind him to battle on their own. Jerome ran faster when he saw Herobrine prepare for an attack.

"Not so fast!" He jumped forward, landing in front of the white-eyed inhuman and used his axe to move Herobrine's arm to the sky. Lightning shot from his palm and disappeared into the sky, lighting it up.

"Foolish human."

Jerome glared at the inhuman, not moving from his spot. "I won't allow you to take anyone else's life."

Herobrine laughed loudly, drawing the attention of several others. "You think you can stop me!?" He swung his hand around and smacked Jerome out of the way. Jerome flew back into a recruit and pigman fighting, immediately getting back up and running up to Herobrine to fight.

"I will avenge Ms. Faye!"

Herobrine smacked Jerome away from him and glared. "You know that insolent woman?" Jerome spat a mouthful of spit and blood and his feet. "I was just going to injure you severely but now, I'll just kill you." He swiftly moved towards Jerome- who was kneeling on the ground, struggling to get up- and kicked him. "Should I end this swiftly of make you suffer?" Herobrine's smirk flashed through Jerome's mind. He stuck out his hand to fire lightning at Jerome but the latter deflected it with his axe. "Enough."

With his growl Herobrine kicked the axe away from Jerome. Jerome gasped in pain as his wrist twisted the wrong way. He glared up at the inhuman before his hand was squished by Herobrine. Jerome's teeth clenched tightly as tears prickled in the back of his eyes.

Bending down to glare at the boy closer, he said, "All you humans are so foolish. Thinking you could ever best me- despicable." He smirked, standing and putting his hands together in ball shaped form.

"Biggums!" Mitch finally saw where his best friend had gone and he didn't like his position one bit. Where he stood, Mitch could see Jerome was in pain. He saw Herobrine combine his hands together and begin to form a fireball. Mitch cut through several pigmen in his way and yelled, "Jerome, no!"

He hit a straight pathway and ran forward, not paying attention to who he passed. A blaze saw him running towards Herobrine and fired his own balls of fire. Two hit Mitch in the back of the legs, his calves, and burned through skin.

He cried out in agony and fell to the ground. Twisting his body to look behind him, he saw his own legs burned down to the bone. The fireballs had burned completely to his femurs, leaving scarred tissue and destroyed nerves and tendons. He couldn't feel his legs and his thighs were tingling. He tried to lift himself but, fell back to the ground. 'No, no! I have to get to Jerome! C'mon Mitch- get up!'

Mitch tried once more, falling back to the ground, reality setting in. He wouldn't be able to save his best friend, he probably wouldn't survive this battle laying here either. Tears prickled as his back began to heat up. He glanced behind him and saw a blaze above him, face placid. Mitch could tell he was going to die then, and he closed his eyes, bowing his head, preparing himself. He waited for the blow- but it never came.

Glancing up behind him, he saw the blaze fall away, an arrow sticking in his head. "Mitch!" It was Ant and Mitch realized, he would get out of here alive.

Looking in Jerome's direction he saw Herobrine slice his hand downwards on Jerome bowed head. Mitch's eyes widened in fear as Jerome's entire body caught fire and he fell limp on the ground. His eyes moved to the shout heard then. "Fluffy!"

Sky came into the picture then, shoving Herobrine away from his friend, Husky moving over and splashing water over the body. Sky felt around for a pulse, shaking his head when he felt none. As soon as he no longer felt the pulse, green shards of a soul left the body, floating into the heavens.

Sky spun around in anger- feeling the adrenaline. "Herobrine!" he roared, dashing to the now standing inhuman and using his sword to ram him into the side of the fallen contraption. Husky kept the hostiles off his back as he growled in Herobrine's face. Shooting a blast of lightning at Sky's stomach area, the inhuman smirked.

Sky flew backwards off him, lying on the ground for a moment to collect his bearings. He stood up, put one hand to his ear and yelled, "Deadlox, Seto!" It was staticky and he couldn't hear their replies but he charged at Herobrine again. He would fight until he could no longer stand; until he could no longer breath; until he could no longer move.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

From above the battlefield, Deadlox flew, destroying ghasts with beams of purple light. He fired purple flamed balls down to the ground, exploding a small portion. Seto was below him, closer to the ground, chanting spells at a mile a minute. He was focused until he heard an explosion of a voice from his ear. "Deadlox, Seto!" He glanced around him before his eyes were drawn to the blue electricity collecting around Herobrine- his uncle.

Deadlox studied the area around Herobrine and saw Sky, rushing towards him, yelling angrily. Deadlox's eyes widened shortly as he realized- that boy was going to die doing that. He turned upside down and folded in his wings, using his purple beams to shoot him downwards. He opened his wings at the last second and curved upward, heading towards the ongoing battle.

Time seemed to move in slow motion and Deadlox almost screamed out. In just that few second time period, Herobrine released an electric explosion, taking out several recruits and making Sky fly backwards into several trees, breaking each in two pieces and finally stopping, limp, on a rock. Deadlox growled and rammed into Herobrine's front.

"Sky!" Ant yelled, tears already billowing in his eyes. Someone came up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Go, see if you can save him," it was Sparklez. "I'll get Mitch to a safer place."

Ant nodded briskly and ran faster than he ever had before to the landing point of his brother. "Sky!" There was no answer from the budder commander and Ant became frantic. As he neared Sky, he could feel his brother's life force slipping away. The armor wasn't enough protection to save him from the blast and the crash. Ant's amulet glowed a bright purple before turning dim, no light being emitted from it. Ant paused in his pursuit, watching golden shards of Sky's soul leave his body and move into the heavens. Ant may have been hallucinating, but he thought he saw his brother's smiling and laughing face before the shards disappeared.

Falling to the ground, just away from the rock, he cried out. Tears streaming down his face, looking to the heavens and screaming, "Sky!"

**~Destruction Among Us~**

The wail of Ant's cry was unheard in the battlefield, too many people preoccupied with saving their own life. Noah didn't quite know what had happened already but he knew someone was severely injured and someone died. When he looked over in the direction of it, he only saw the brown haired boy in red being helped away from the battle by his brother and the amulet wearing boy running to the other. He glanced around shortly before seeing his father in a fight with his cousin and moved to help. Checking around the battlefield he searched for his uncle and friends. He found his uncle easily, but couldn't find one person in particular. The boy that had made him feel welcomed almost immediately, Jerome. He saw the one everyone called a fish carrying a body in a suit off the battlefield and stopped in his place. That was his friend, he realized.

Tears suddenly springing to his eyes, he rubbed at them angrily. Several blazes moved to attack him- a child on the battlefield- and he screamed in frustration. Crying loudly in frustration, he shouted as loud as he could, emitting a loud screech that made nearly everyone stop to cover their ears. He pushed his hands outward and started several fires and explosions.

The battlefield shook and mostly everyone- hostiles and humans- dropped to the ground, at least those not in the air. Losing their balance, Deadlox and Herobrine both began to float in the air, Deadlox using his wings.

Herobrine glanced over to the origin of the earthquake and saw his youngest child screaming and shaking the Overworld. He grinned maniacally and laughed cruelly, "I knew my children wouldn't be able to resist heir true fate."

What he didn't expect, however, was Noah to come flying at him, barreling into him at full force, producing small electrical shocks from his palms. Herobrine flew around and pulled the child away from him. Picking him up under the armpits, Herobrine threw Noah into several trees- shattering them, creating a crater that Noah just laid in, unmoving. Ssundee rushed to the seven year old's side. Sparklez, finally finished with helping Mitch to medical aid, angrily growled and flew up beside Deadlox.

"Ah, my human loving son," Herobrine smirked, charging electricity along his arm.

"Father," Sparklez sneered, flames overtaking his hands. Deadlox stayed quiet, his hands becoming a tinged purple. Below them, everyone stopped fighting- it wasn't a planned stopping, but unanimously, all agreed that this would be the battle to decide who will retreat. The separate battles dispersed; recruits going to their leaders and hostiles taking the side behind Herobrine. They were all cheering in excitement and anxiety. No one could tell who would win; Herobrine was after all the ruler of the Underworld and several people had their doubts.

On the ground Ssundee brought a crying Ant over to the rest of the recruits, Husky coming over with Noah, who was nursing a broken arm and bruises. Seto and Jason hovered just above them all, waiting- Seto with a spell poised on his lips to help. Not everyone knew that two of their worshipped leaders had fallen and one severely injured- almost fatally.

Everyone fell silent as they watched Sparklez be the first to attack, launching backwards in the air, exploding fire balls from his palms. Herobrine easily deflected them, firing his own power directly at Sparklez.

With his mind clouded over with rage, Sparklez was unable to dodge and he flew backwards, forming a deep crater into a small hole. Several recruits went in after to help him. "That useless son of mine is out of the way now. I can take you out as well."

Deadlox glared at him. "I don't think so uncle." Allowing the purple glow to become brighter before he shot beams from his palms. Flying around Herobrine, he created an encasing- normally impenetrable. Herobrine chuckled before the casing exploded into purple pieces.

"My elder brother's son can't do any better than that?" Deadlox growled as the other inhuman laughed evilly. "I knew he was weak!"

"Don't talk about my father!" Deadlox yelled, barreling into Herobrine, launching them both to the ground. They fought with fists in a crater, both dodging blows and landing fatal ones. They fought with the intent to kill- Herobrine knowing that this would be his chance to finally rule the Overworld and Deadlox, for his Faye.

Herobrine attacked Deadlox, making him fall to the ground, the former on top the latter. Deadlox growled, bringing his legs underneath Herobrine and releasing End energy from his feet to launch Herobrine from the crater and crashing into several hostiles.

Deadlox floated from the hole, glaring. Herobrine stood from his newly made hole, hissing in anger. He fired an electric laced fireball at Deadlox, making him fly backwards. Seto, in fear for his friend, flew over to him.

"Deadlox?"

"Seto, there's no specific way to beat him. He's nearly immortal- almost impossible to beat," Deadlox panted, receiving the small help and healing energy from his friend.

"I know of a way," Seto said grimly. Deadlox looked at him in curiosity. "When I first went to the End and you asked me to stay there, I researched several possibilities on how to defeat an almost immortal." Looking back at the laughing, white-eyed man. "It's probably one of the only ways, but I need time."

"If you can destroy that creature, I will stall for as much time as you need."

Seto nodded and Deadlox flew off to battle Herobrine once more. Seto watched, a grim look about him. He had originally looked up the formula to destroy Deadlox- but he became friends with the End prince. He kept the information hidden away in the back of his kind in case Deadlox became insane.

Flying towards an old and hidden area in the trees, Seto sighed in relief. Fifteen years ago, Seto had found the stronghold and went to the End. His old sorcery cave was around this area and he could find everything he needed in there.

Upon entering the small, hidden cave, he coughed. Over fifteen years is a serious time that things can collect dust. He mumbled a spell that forced the dust away. Sifting through old papers, he looked for a certain button. Once he found it and pressed it, a side wall opened up and he walked through it. In it was several shelves of vials and beakers- some filled, some not. He moved to one shelf with old, aged materials.

Plucking off the shelf a vial with blue liquid in it, Seto marked it off in his head, "Squid blood." He moved several other bottles and beakers before picking out another and placing it in a small pouch on his hip. "Snake heart."

Many minutes of surfing through bottles, Seto had all the ingredients needed. He moved towards the old cauldron and and quickly said a spell to light the fire beneath it. Hurriedly throwing in the right amount of each ingredient, he snapped his fingers and the mixture began to stir itself. He ground in a few more specimens and threw them inside, making the invisible spoon stir faster. After several minutes, he snapped once more and the stirring stopped.

Seto grabbed a ladle and a large vial, spooning the finished mix into the vial and placing it safely in one of his many pouches. Then, quicker than he thought possible, he flew from the hidden cave, quickly back to the battlefield.

There he saw Deadlox with his arms up around his face, blocking many shots fired by Herobrine. Just as Herobrine was about to release an electric-laced fireball, Seto interrupted with a blast of purple.


	16. Chapter 15

**Destruction Among Us- Chapter 15**

"Seto!" Several shouts of the commander's friends and family were heard. He smirked lightly, spying next to Deadlox, his plans glowing a purple-ish white.

"Who are you! Only inhuman beings are able to do these things!" Herobrine's minions shouted from the ground.

"I'm a sorcerer, it's what I do."

He fired the purple-ish balls at Herobrine, the latter dodging them. Turning to Deadlox, Seto told him, "We need to get this into his system." Seto showed the pouch and vial inside it. Deadlox nodded, looking a lot worse than he did when Seto left.

Dodging a blast from Herobrine, Seto flipped backwards and moved to distract the Underworld ruler while Deadlox found the opportune moment.

Herobrine and Seto both dodged and shot things at each other. Neither quite paying attention to the destruction they were causing. Just from the aftermaths of their blasts and explosions injured or killed many recruits and hostiles. The destruction was so great that many had a fleeting thought that after this battle was through, this place would become a historic sight.

Deadlox was slow in flying around to find a perfect opening to get the potion into Herobrine's system. He didn't know how he would achieve what Seto wanted him to do. But, as he began to doubt his ability to do this, he remembered that Faye had fought harder than him at this time and he was once again surged with more adrenaline. Using his wings to push him forward, Deadlox held tight to the small vial and went right into the air battle. Up next to Seto, they had a short conversation with their eyes.

Nodding, Seto yelled loudly drawing Herobrine's attention and Deadlox charged into Herobrine's middle, wrapping his arms around and making them both fall to the ground. Seto dived down next to them and held down Herobrine's arms. Deadlox, now using his knees to hold down Herobrine's legs, used his teeth to pull the cork from the vial and forcefully stuck it into Herobrine's mouth, tipping it upside down, and watching the contents empty into the Underworld ruler's mouth. He shoved a hand over Herobrine's mouth, forcing the white eyed inhuman to either choke or swallow the liquid.

**~Destruction Among Us~**

Herobrine glared as he swallowed unwillingly. He had no idea what it was the stupid beings made go down his throat, and he wasn't too keen on finding out. After a second or two of waiting, he watched the End Prince's eyes widen and he released a bright light, throwing the two away from him, and he floated to the top of the hole in the ground.

"You're special creatures that would supposedly help you, failed." Most of the recruits moved to the side of the crater and saw, with their own eyes, Seto and Deadlox, laying there, unmoving- unconscious. "Now you see no one has the ability to defeat me! I am invincible!" He laughed maniacally, voice raised to the sky. "It's mine now! All mine!"

Unknown to the laughing Herobrine, he began to glow a red color. The beings below watched- hostiles in fear and recruits in anticipation. Herobrine's laughter stopped abruptly as he began to glow brighter. His voice was gone- no longer able to speak, he frantically tried to rub away the glowing; eventually realizing that it was that liquid forced down his throat.

The entire sky became a dark red, leaving the ground and everyone watching red, no other color visible. They watched as Herobrine released a silent scream of agony, before disappearing into thin air- no soul shards, no body.

All was quiet, but as the Overworld became the colorful land it was, the recruits cheered. They chased after the hostiles, forcing them all to retreat before the Prisoning Guard trapped them in cages.

Louis, leader of the Prison, walked over to Ant, Ssundee, Husky, and Noah. Shaking Ant's hand, he said, "I'm Warden of the Prison Guard, we'll take care of the hostiles and give them the right punishment." Looking around, smiling slightly, "I believe the Commander of the Sky Army is responsible for this plan? So, where is this man?"

Ant covered his mouth to stop a choked sob and turned away. The warden looked at him curiously, glancing around at the others. Each one had a look of grief and regret. "He's-?" The small nod from Ant gave him the confirmation he needed. Placing a comforting hand on Ant's shoulder, Louis sighed. "He was a great man, one that no one could compare to. Sky was most definitely greater than any." The warden left the group, saddened by the reminder that they lost the Sky Army Commander and their own bacca lover. Not to mention Mitch's severe injury.

Sparklez flew from the crater, carefully carrying Deadlox and Seto, their arms wrapped around his shoulders. "They're alright, just a bit groggy from the blast." He passed Seto onto Husky and the two supported their new friends, watching as recruits gathered around them.

Ant sighed sadly, wiped his eyes and addressed the recruits. "Let's head back to Sky Base and honor the dead. Squads Alpha, Delta, and Foxtrot, use the Skyship to relieve the bodies and we'll identify them at the base. Give them all a proper burial."

The squad leaders all nodded in agreement and began to head into the Skyship. They would handle things there. Ant turned around and wiped away a stray tear- while fingering his dim amulet. Ssundee hugged the younger boy and said, "It'll be alright, let's go home."

**~Destruction Among Us~**

Ssundee sighed, moving to the glass doors in his, Sparklez and Noah's home. He opened them and stepped out onto the balcony. He looked at the sky, its purple-red color. The sun was setting just barely and he made the excuse to go to bed. Only few actually knew that he was coming up here to think- about Faye, Sky, Jerome. If only they had gotten away fr-

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a scream for his name. Leaving the bedroom quickly, running down the hall. He left the home he resided in and saw something he never thought possible. In the middle of the plaza in the Sky Base, was Notch. Beside him his two brothers, Endless and Herobrine. He screamed.

"We killed Herobrine!"

Recruits all screamed and yelled, some shouting obscene things and others crying silently, thinking that the entire battle was a lie. Notch raised a hand to silence many of them. Ssundee looked to his left and saw his other friends come up beside him, Mitch in a wheelchair, hopefully temporarily.

"We mean no harm, children of mine," Notch smiled. "I wish to speak to the ones that returned my younger brother to normal."

The crowd of recruits parted in Ant, Mitch, Ssundee, Husky, Jason, Sparklez, Noah, Deadlox, and Seto direction. They moved forward as one, taking cautious steps until they stood before the ruler of the Overworld.

"Ah, it was you."

"I believe the potion I created was supposed to kill Herobrine," Seto spoke from the back, being blunt and wanting an answer.

Notch chuckled. "That potion didn't kill him, only reset him into thinking nothing had happened. I learned the error of my ways in being selfish and decided to allow some of his creations to live in the Overworld."

"But-"

"It's fine Ssundee," Ant spoke, holding off his friend's protest. "But, Notch, we, what about us?"

"Eh, what about you?" Notch raised an eyebrow in question. "I only wished to thank you for returning my brother to normal."

"Then what about the destruction caused!?"

Before Notch could reply, Endless spoke up. "Brother, I believe they mean something of a sort of compensation for the loss of their loved ones." In realization, Notch smiled and snapped his fingers.

A bright light appeared beside them and they all had to cover their eyes. When the light dissipated, Ssundee's eyes widened. In the spot where the light was, stood Faye, Sky, and Jerome.

"Faye!"

"Sky!"

"Biggums!"

"Mama Faye!"

Each one of them all ran up and hugged the once dead beings. Deadlox turned to his uncle. "How?"

"They're up there in the heavens, I can bring them back for a short while but not give them new life," Notch answered.

Ssundee, Sparklez, and Noah pulled away from Faye and Seto came to give her a hug next. "So good to see you again, Princess."

"Always so polite Seto," Faye smiled, hugging him tightly. She spotted Deadlox over his shoulder and pulled away. She walked forward; in front of the End prince. "Now you know why I never returned for five years, huh?"

"Faye," Deadlox whispered, moving his hands to cradle the woman's face. He smiled brightly, using his thumbs to trace along her bottom lip. "I missed you so much." Faye smiled sadly, tears beginning to show in her eyes.

Next to them, Ant was crying silently on his brother's shoulder. "I can't believe you're gone," he sobbed.

"I won't always be gone," Sky pulled at Ant's shoulders to look at him. "As long as you wear your amulet, I'll be with you. Nothing could ever break us apart." They embraced again, Ant sobbing and Sky keeping his own tears in.

Jerome was looking at Mitch's wheelchair. "Is that-?"

"Yeah, the doc' says I have a slim chance of being able to walk again," Mitch smiled, rubbing at his knees.

"I'm so sorry biggums," Jerome bent down and hugged his blonde brother tightly.

"It wasn't your fault Jerome," Mitch's words were choked, his voice strained so he could focus on not crying. "At least you have people to be by your side up there."

"Yeah."

At the same time, the dead beings began to fade. Notch looked to them and sighed, "I suppose that's all I can manage. Everyone say your goodbyes."

Goodbyes, hugs, waves, wiping of tears and snot were all present as the bodies disappeared in their respective soul colors. The recruits wiped at their eyes as well- they may not have known Faye but they did know and worship their commander and bacca.

Notch smiled gratefully, "I am eternally grateful to you all for returning my brother to me. I will always watch over you all and give you safety my children."

"All hail Notch!" the recruits shouted in respect. The three inhuman rulers all disappeared in bright light and when it was gone the recruits all went back to their business.

"I know I just saw her and got to say goodbye, but I'll still miss her," Sparklez looked upwards, his eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

"We'll all miss her, Sky, and Jerome," Ant spoke from beside him. "But they won't ever be too far away."


	17. Epilogue

**Destruction Among Us**

**Epilogue**

**One Year Later**

"Uncle Ssundee! Uncle Ssundee!" a small eight year old with white eyes came running brought the kitchen, screaming. Behind him was his elder friend by ten years, Husky. Husky was currently chasing the younger boy that he found playing in Old Man Jenkins' yard again.

"Huh?" Ssundee's voice sounded from the living room and Noah headed there next, throwing himself into his uncle's stomach, wrapping his arms around Ssundee tightly. "Noah, Husky? What's going on?" The two began speaking at once, Ssundee not receiving any of the information. Putting his hands up in surrender, Ssundee ordered, "Alright, hang on you two." The two paused in their argument to hear their uncle. "Now, one at a time, Husky."

With little protest from Noah and a glare from Ssundee to make him quiet, Husky began. "I saw Noah messing with Mr. Jenkins' chickens again. I was only trying to stop him."

"I was not!" Noah argued, grabbing hold of Ssundee hand. "Uncle Ssundee I was trying to keep Charlie and Rose away from them!"

Ssundee sighed, rubbing his temples. "Well, let's just leave each other alone for now and we'll forget about everything that happened before now, good?" The two nodded, Noah smiling gratefully. Ssundee turned around and moved back to the couch. "Sorry about that."

"Eh, Uncle Ssundee who you talking to?" Noah jumped onto the back of the couch, his stomach resting on it.

The man across from Ssundee chuckled, drawing Noah's attention. The eight year old noted that the man had brown hair and word headphones, then he smiled in realization. "Daddy Deadlox!" Noah ran around the couch and leaped into his new father's arms. After the Battle of Defeat Noah had taken to calling the End Prince his father- Faye was basically his mother and the two were married.

"How's it going Noah?"

"It's been great! Why didn't you tell me you were visiting!?"

Deadlox laughed, "I wanted it to be a surprise!"

"Is Seto here!?" Noah asked, on his father's previous visit, he had become very good friends with the sorcerer, being allowed to help with his potions.

"Not this time," Deadlox grinned at Noah's pout. "But I promise he'll come along next time." Noah's face brightened; he hugged his father and ran off to play once more. "Each time I see him, he always has so much energy."

Ssundee chuckled, "I don't know where he gets it anymore." The two adults talked for a bit more before Ssundee brought up how things were in the End.

"So, how're things in the End?"

"Everything is good. I keep in track of his many Endermen actually go to the Overworld and play with Elliot frequently. He gets so antsy with no one to play with," Deadlox replied, leaning backwards to rest. "How is my cousin in the Underworld?"

"I still don't see why you can't call it the Nether now," Ssundee smiled, shaking his head. "Sparklez has chosen for the more earthly hostiles to stay in the Overworld, the others are to stay in the Nether." A few months after the Battle of Defeat Notch had returned, saying the Underworld needed a leader. Sparklez, being Herobrine's eldest son had taken on the responsibility.

Sparklez had no longer allowed any creature to pass through the portals unless they created one themselves. The now Overwordly hostiles were no longer allowed to be in the Underworld. Sparklez, not wanting for anyone to remember bad memories, renamed the Underworld, the Nether. He didn't give orders on a throne like Herobrine but ruled from above, watching the creations like Deadlox and Notch would, not interfering with their lives.

"He just visited a couple weeks ago and updated on recent changes, not many though," Ssundee concluded. Deadlox nodded, mentally taking notes on the new information. He didn't really have the ability to communicate with others in different dimensions, unless he used Seto any time he wanted to speak with Ssundee or Sparklez.

The doorbell rung softly, and Ssundee got up to get it, yelling, "Come in!" He returned shortly after with Mitch.

"Hey, I heard from Noah that the End Prince is back for a visit," Mitch said, moving his wheelchair to the side of the couches. Deadlox greeted him and the three began to visit once more.

After Mitch's accident, any doctor they went to said that the tendons, arteries, and veins had been burned too badly, wouldn't be able to be fixed. He was forced to stay in a wheelchair, even though he could choose to get new legs. He chose to keep his originals because he wanted to remember in what he failed to do. That he allowed his best friend to be killed- but if asked he says he wanted to honor his friend. Mitch now helped the Sky Army from behind the defense lines and sent out orders from behind a desk.

Jason had gone back up into space to explore the new planets and such. He didn't visit much, preferring to video chat with all his friends. He was a thousand miles away, exploring an uncharted planet to see if anything resided on it. He often spoke through to the Sky Base in order to inform them of any predators they need to be wary of.

Husky was one of the ones that visited the most, considering he was still in the same dimension and only so far away in the Land of Waters. He trained many recruits interested in a life underwater and helped establish a hefty armada. The Underwater Base had several recruits and commanders to help with any battles in water.

After establishing a ginormous funeral for the dead, Ant began to command the Sky Army- leaving the name in honor of Sky. He established order and gave able recruits certain jobs pertaining to their skills. He helped train recruits from his experiences and they all became good fighters.

The recruits who were mortally wounded or sick told stories of what happened. The younger children would often go to the older recruits, that were in the Battle of Defeat. They told of Commander Sky and how he created this base with his friends. Told the story of his past and the others' as well. The story of Herobrine's Defeat was told through many generations, how a lady called Faye was found as an old caretaker of Sky and the other commanders. They told of how the sons of Herobrine turned to their aide and joined their side. The first battle that ended in retreat for both sides and the finding of the Stronghold.

Several recruits wished for the Stronghold to become an ancient ruin for people to visit, but Ant had refused, saying that the Stronghold was a place not needed for the story. It was a place to be kept hidden.

"Ssundee," Deadlox began, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine."

"We'll I only came today because I remembered that it has been one year since we last saw them all," Deadlox continued, adjusting himself to look out the window in front of him.

"I've lived fine by now, and I know she's watching over me, I can only live by what she taught me and make her proud," Ssundee smiled, chuckling slightly. Mitch nodded, agreeing that was the only thing they all could do. "We were going to visit their graves later, if you wish to come?"

"I'd like that."

**~Destruction Among Us~**

"This story has been told for many years, it is all 100% true. Never doubt that our greatest Commander gave his life to protect his friend. That their caretaker had given her life to give them a chance to destroy Herobrine. Generations upon generations have heard this story, and we hope that they will continue to tell the story to their younger generations through this book. For the story of Herobrine's Defeat is here, in this book," the teacher finished, closing the book and looking at her students.

One that sat in the middle of the very classroom raised his hand and asked, "Mrs. Rose how do we know it's true?" A few students mumbled agreements, wanting to know as well.

"The truth is, we can't know that this story is true."

"Then why is it told as a legend?!"

The teacher smiled brightly, pleased by the questions. "Have you all seen the statue of our Great Commanders in the square?" The students all nodded, some not understanding why it had anything to do with their questions. "They are the Commanders in this story."

"We know that, but how do we know it's true!?"

The teacher smiled. "I was best friends with the young child in that statue."

"You mean Noah, the son of Herobrine?!" Several children exclaimed.

"Yes, that same Noah," she chuckled. "We tormented Old Man Jenkins' chickens with Charlie."

"Charlie the baker!?"

"Mhm, that's how I know every word is true," the teacher looked out the window, glancing to the sky. "I may have been young, but my memory never failed me from back then. My generation was one of the last to live through the Battle of Defeat." The bell rang, silencing all other comments. Students packed up their stuff and began to file out the door. "Be safe going home children!"

"Mrs. Rose, I promise to tell that story to every child I have."

"You do just that Matthew."


End file.
